Nobody expects an inquisition, except maybe in the catacombs of The Science™, where one may hear among the screams: “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess.” Career pressures of publish-or-perish coupled with the bonanza of fast-tracked manuscripts associated with COVID-19 produce remarkable (unsettling? hilarious?) examples of a Data Inquisition. Peer-reviewed publications establish with precision that anywhere from 5 to 80 percent will suffer some form of Long COVID — regardless whether they actually caught the virus or not.
Meanwhile, the media magnify fears over the mystery of Long COVID. One third of all infected will suffer chronic and debilitating symptoms! Niggling details didn’t make it to press, though, such as how most subjects were the vulnerable elderly and hospitalized for severe acute infection. One in five may develop Long COVID, says the CDC, and vaccination will protect you! Yet the article buried how vaccination can also increase risk of Long COVID and lead to worse outcomes than hospitalization for influenza. Marvel in horror as people lose ten I.Q. points to Long COVID! Never you mind all subjects were severe and critical cases. Long COVID can even lead to death! Actual underlying causes may have nothing to do with Long COVID, but let that not stand in the way of sensational headlines magnetizing clicks…
