Florida has issued it’s 22nd Statewide Grand Jury Report, which found that masks and Covid lockdowns were both harmful and ineffective.

Preliminary findings show inefficacy of masks, lockdowns, and other nonpharmaceutical interventions.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, the 22nd Statewide Grand Jury released their first interim report, which includes findings on the inefficacy of masks and the years of lockdowns. On December 13, 2022, Governor DeSantis petitioned the Florida Supreme Court for a statewide grand jury to investigate crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The report noted roadblocks in the Statewide Grand Jury’s investigative efforts due to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Army refusing to provide representatives to testify before the jury. These entities played a substantial hand in the contracting, approval, and distribution process for the COVID-19 vaccines.

Major highlights of the report include:

1. On nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs): “To be clear, scientific research into NPIs and their consequences did not begin with the outbreak of COVID-19. A wealth of contemporaneous scientific information already existed in major publications that could have informed a much more robust and meaningful response with respect to NPIs, but much of it was ignored or even attacked by mainstream public health and media entities in the early months of the pandemic, for reasons that are not always clear. In short, this was not an ‘information’ problem, it was a ‘judgment’ problem.”
2. On lockdowns: “Lockdowns were not a good trade. Comparative data showed that jurisdictions that held to them tended to end up with higher overall excess mortality. This is especially evident when compared to jurisdictions that targeted their protective efforts towards the highest-risk groups instead of mandating large-scale, extended periods of quarantine for everyone.”
3. On safety and efficacy: “It should also be apparent that establishing the ‘safety’ of a biological product necessitates a comprehensive, meaningful and accurate evaluation of the risk presented by the disease that product is designed to address.”
4. On masking: “We have never had sound evidence of their effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 transmission” and “there have always been legitimate questions around the impracticality of individual adherence to mask recommendations, but once it became clear that the primary transmission vector of SARS-CoV-2 was via aerosol, their potential efficacy was further diminished. Public health agencies failed to adequately explain this important distinction to the American public in favor of a broad mask recommendation that did not make nearly enough distinction between the types of masks available and put at risk those it sought to help. Well-financed federal agencies chose to fill the discourse with flawed observational and laboratory studies, hiding behind their conclusion of ‘no equipoise’ to avoid the potential embarrassment of the public health advice they championed being invalidated by evidence.”
5. On hospitalization risk: “We know for a fact that this happened because numerous federal and state health officials have publicly stated that they did not ask or require hospitals to distinguish cases where someone was admitted with incidental SARS-CoV-2 infection versus cases where someone was so sick with symptoms of COVID-19 disease that he or she required hospitalization. Thus, it is highly likely that the CDC’s number of total hospitalizations is inflated to some degree with asymptomatic or minor SARS-CoV-2 infections that were classified as ‘hospitalizations’ in order to financially benefit the hospital.”
6. On collateral consequences: “Somehow, because of panic, hubris, ineptitude or some unfortunate combination of the three, this widely rejected idea not only made its way back into scientific discourse in 2020, it became the law of the land in most of the United States between 2020 and 2022. It is clear to this Grand Jury that whatever benefits inured from these mandates, they were not worth the price.”

Nonetheless, the apolitical Statewide Grand Jury concluded in its first interim report that “there are still many months and much more testimony and evidence to come before our work will be finished. The issue we have been asked to examine is different from prior statewide grand juries in that it obviously affects people all over the United States—and perhaps the world—in much the same way as it affects citizens of the State of Florida.”

Governor Ron DeSantis and State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo met with members of Florida’s Public Health Integrity Committee (PHIC) to discuss the First Interim Report released by the Florida Statewide 22nd Grand Jury on the harmful impacts of mask mandates and lockdowns, all pushed by the federal government.

Watch the roundtable discussion.

Governor Ron DeSantis Hosts a Roundtable Discussion Highlighting First COVID Grand Jury Report https://t.co/0zZNRc3SUs

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 9, 2024

“Florida rejected the prevailing orthodoxy regarding non-pharmaceutical interventions, but in reality, just followed pre-COVID pandemic response guidance, which elite bureaucrats tossed aside as fear and hysteria took over,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Florida preserved freedom and blocked mandates. The grand jury has now confirmed what we knew all along – Florida got it right.”

In this initial report, the grand jury noted that their investigation was hampered due to the refusal to participate by various federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even with this refusal from the federal government impeding a review to allow for transparency and accountability, the report’s determinations were clear:

Lockdowns and mask mandates caused more collateral damage than good. The jury identified anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, and attention deficits were attributable to the “heavy-handed” policies of lockdowns.

Lockdowns resulted in higher excess mortality rates. The jury found that jurisdictions that implemented lockdowns tended to have higher overall excess mortality rates.

Evidence to support mask mandates were abysmal. “There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks,” the jury concluded. There has never been sound evidence of effectiveness against the virus from face masks that provided statistically significant benefits.

The CDC’s COVID-19 hospitalization data is likely inflated. The jury found that the CDC’s number of total COVID-19 hospitalizations is likely inflated due to asymptomatic or minor SARS-CoV-2 infections among patients that were classified as COVID-19 hospitalizations in order to financially benefit the hospital.

“Leading by common sense and sound science was a priority for Florida from day one of COVID-19,” said State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo. “The findings of the grand jury demonstrate how going against federal mandates was the right choice for the health and freedom of all Floridians. The lasting damage done to Americans by COVID-19 mandates is no secret, but the grand jury’s first interim report makes it even more evident.”

“During the pandemic, we threw away the basic principles of public health,” said Dr. Martin Kulldorff, PhD. “The verdict is in. Lockdowns were a huge mistake.”

“CDC and other bodies ignored basic science, used their power to silence scientists that didn’t agree with them, and subverted high-quality evidence to make decisions,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD. “In 2021, [Governor DeSantis] ordered monoclonal antibody treatment for Floridians, and the Biden administration cut the funding at a time that would have saved countless lives. Now, I don’t know for sure, but it looked to me like one political party trying to hurt members of another political party.”

“There have been some accounting tricks used to make COVID-19 seem more dangerous than it really was. There is something odd that a fundamental principle of public health was thrown under the bus,” said Dr. Bret Weinstein, PhD. “It is great to see the state of Florida acting in a capacity of international leadership. The entire planet is suffering from the exhaustion from COVID.”

“Every American knows a large number of mistakes were made. We’re not seeing a nation come together on what we did wrong,” said Dr. Joseph Fraiman, MD. “I hope the grand jury can offer our country guidance on how to organize our government and how to handle events like this in the future.”

“Spotlight needs to be shown on the federal agencies and their actions during the pandemic. That needs to come from the highest level possible, and that’s not happening,” said Dr. Steven Templeton, PhD. “I don’t think [the federal government] has an appetite right now to address these problems, and I don’t think there is going to be an appetite anytime soon for it.”

Copyright 2024. Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.