Unreported Truths About Covid-19 and Lockdowns: Combined Parts 1-3: Death Counts, Lockdowns, and Masks

by Alex Berenson

Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson offers all a combined version of three booklets in the controversial and best-selling Unreported Truths about Covid series - at one low price.

Since the publication of the first booklet in June, Unreported Truths has offered an honest counterpart to over-the-top media coverage about the risks of the coronavirus and ways to stop it. Part 1 focused on the ways governments count and report Covid-19 deaths. Part 2 covered the history of lockdowns and the evidence that they work - or don't. And Part 3 gave the same treatment to masks and mask mandates.

All three booklets draw on primary sources like Centers for Disease Control reports, news articles, and scientific papers - and all three offer direct links to the material so that you the reader can judge it for yourself.

With a quarter-million copies sold, Unreported Truths has become an independent journalism phenomenon. And as the fight over our response to Covid drags on, knowing the facts is more important than ever! Now, for the first time, all three booklets are available in a single package. Whether you are wondering about the series, have read one booklet but are interested in the others, or simply want them together for convenience, the Combined Edition offers fresh flexibility.

With a new introduction!

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Politics, Health

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 14, 2020

Reviews

[Jacob Swain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evidence Based Analysis of Governmental Policies Related to Covid-19

Challenging governmental policies and public opinion related to the spread of Covid-19 has proven highly unpopular. However, we live in a free society and should welcome diverse points of view. The author follows an evidence-based approach that highlights the inconsistencies and contradictions between the pre-Covid research and policies for managing pandemics and the post-Covid actions taken by governments. Definitely worth a read.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you tired of the mass media fueled hysteria? Do you need facts and arguments to counteract the pabulum that the brain washed drones spout. Alex Berenson provides the ammo in Unreported Truths About Covid-19 and Lockdowns: Combined Parts 1-3: Death Counts, Lockdowns, and Masks

Berenson was a reporter for The New York Times and has authored several espionage thrillers in addition to his 2019 book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence in which he argues that legal marijuana is causing huge rise in psychosis and violence in America.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Berenson has frequently denounced the slanted, one sided reporting of “Team Apocalypse,” the media outlets that seem committed to painting as bleak a picture of the coronavirus as possible. Of course the Fake News accuses him of making numerous false claims about the virus and its vaccines.

The media can call Berenson a liar until they're blue in the face. This man follows the evidence, and he marshals the evidence to highlight the inconsistencies and contradictions between the pre-Covid research and policies for managing pandemics and the post-Covid actions taken by governments. He totally dismantles Team Apocalypse on Covid, lockdowns and masks.

He also makes sure to give his sources so you can check the facts for yourself. This book is written clearly without a bunch of jargon and the info is conveyed in a straight forward manner. Arm yourself with some reliable information.

[Daniel Lavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two sections about the death count and lockdowns are pretty solid. At this point we all know that lockdowns don't work at all, unless you are a tiny island in the ocean that can completely stop travel to and from. The death count section provides arguments I've heard since the summer about how hospitals are over counting Covid deaths, in many cases being told to just "make assumptions". My problem with this book is the last section: masks. I think the main point that the author missed is that most people aren't saying masks totally stop the virus, but that they are a barrier. Every example the author quotes makes that point again; though the author is trying to prove that masks don't work at all. He'll detail a study done where (for example, made up numbers) "masks only block 40% of particles". The author uses this as proof of how masks aren't effective against Covid but... clearly that's the opposite of what the study says.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work here by Alex Berenson. Cited sources. Hard research. No fluff.

You should read this immediately. You can easily do it in one sitting.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good analysis of the hysteria.

[Steven H · Rating 1 out of 5]

A FORMER INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER CRITIQUES THE EVIDENCE

Alex Berenson is the author of many ‘spy novels,’ who previously worked for the New York Times as a business investigative reporter.

He wrote in the December 2020 Introduction to this ‘combined version’ of his first three booklets, “I had no idea what to expect when I published the first Unreported Truths booklet in June. I had a decent audience on Twitter for my arguments that governments all over the world had overreacted to the relatively minor threat SARS-Cov-2 posed… I figured maybe a few thousand people might pay … for an ebook of what I initially called the ‘Essential Guide to COVID.’ … Instead---thanks in part to Amazon, which provided priceless publicity when it tried to keep me from publishing the book---that many people bought it in the first few HOURS it was on sale… More recently, the physical booklets have outsold the Kindle versions…

“Yes, I have a political goal---to convince you that lockdowns and other COVID-related governmental intrusions are for the most part a mistake. But I’m using JOURNALISTIC and SCIENTIFIC means. I am offering information and data that major media outlets have failed to report and making a case they will not present. I provide links to the major documents I quote because I want you the reader to be able to judge them yourself. In fact, I AGREE governments may sometime be justified in taking strong measures to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases. I believe… that the bar for lockdowns should be very high. But very high doesn’t mean impossible. If the coronavirus killed 5 or 10 percent of the people it infected, decisive steps would be justified… But the coronavirus doesn’t kill 80 percent of the people who get it… Worldwide, it probably kills somewhere around 0.1 of 0.15 percent of the people it infects. In other words, about 999 out of 1,000 people who get it will survive.” (Pg. 1-3)

He continues, “[The virus] is simply far less deadly than most people understand. The risk it does pose is mostly to the extremely elderly and unwell … But the vast majority of the major media outlets and health experts have engaged in what can only called a coordinated campaign to hide that fact… it has NEVER presented major risks to society or most people…” (Pg. 3-4)

He recounts, “My instincts as an investigative reporter took over. I had been a New York Times reporter from 1999 until 2010… I had one outlet: Twitter… I didn’t have other options to ask questions in real time. The after [professor Neil Ferguson’s] testimony … I raised questions about his revised estimate in a series of tweets. For better or worse, people notice. The most notable was Elon Musk… Musk and others retweeted my primary tweet challenging Ferguson, and it was viewed almost 5 million times. Suddenly I found myself as one of the few people with any journalistic standing challenging the apocalyptic reporting that dominated media outlets like the Times… this view was less than popular, to say the least…. The fear coming out of New York City, where to many members of the media lived, was palpable.” (Pg. 9-10)

He continues, “But as the days passed, the fact that the models were profoundly overestimating the number of people who would need to be hospitalized with SARS-COV-2 became self-evident… Even in New York, the health-care system was never close to being overrun… In the end, New York never had more than 4,000 coronavirus patients on ventilators… By mid-April, it was obvious to me---and anyone else who was paying attention---that the coronavirus epidemic simply was not going to be anywhere near as bad as the early predictions, and that the lockdowns were an extreme overreaction.” (Pg. 10-11)

He outlines, “I want to focus here on crucial questions that I have tried to answer… including: How lethal is SARS-COV-2? Is it more dangerous than the flu?... How are SARS-COV-2 deaths coded? What questions does the coding policy raise?... Why did the key predictive models that policymakers used when they agreed to lockdowns prove so inaccurate? Do lockdowns slow the spread?... What about the mental health risks of lockdowns? Is requiring people to wear masks in public likely to slow the spread?” (Pg. 13-14)

He argues, “in a worst-case scenario---if we took no steps to mitigate the spread or protect vulnerable people, a completely unchecked coronavirus might kill … between 1 in 360 and 1 in 1,300 Americans. This is HIGHER than a seasonal flu in most years.. The coronavirus appears far less dangerous than the Spanish flu a century ago, which was commonly said to kill 1 in 50 of the people it infected… On a per-person basis, the coronavirus risk is relatively small. But… on a population level the overall potential fatality numbers are eye-catching. They represent a worst-case death toll of 250,000 to 900,000 Americans. The Centers for Disease Control’s estimate translates into a range of just over a half-million total coronavirus deaths, for example.” (Pg. 21)

He notes, “Many states assume that anyone with a positive coronavirus test has died from that disease, no matter what their actual cause of death… For example, Washington state reported on May 21 it had included five people who had died of gunshots in its total of roughly 1,000 coronavirus deaths… some states match databases of deaths of people who have died with those who had positive coronavirus test results---and add anyone with a positive test result to their counts, even if there was no initial finding that coronavirus caused the death.” (Pg. 26)

He continues, “I don’t mean to imply that … most deaths listed as COVID-19 in the United States are not in some way related to the virus. But the bubble of deaths in New York City in March and April is inarguable… But major media outlets have repeatedly tried to make the case that somehow the United States has sharply undercounted coronavirus deaths… An even more serious and ultimately insoluble problem in the count comes not from the coding and some deaths that are clearly unrelated to the virus are COVID-related, but because the vast majority of people who die after becoming infected with coronavirus are old and unwell.” (Pg. 27)

He states, “California has about 40 million people. Since the epidemic began almost five months ago, the state has had about 9,000 deaths from the virus, NONE in anyone under 18… Yet California’s economy and society remain crippled.” (Pg. 38) [Currently, California has had 18 deaths under 18, but also 799 in the 18-34 range, and 58,788 total.]

He asserts, “Faced with a risk of hundreds of thousands and millions of deaths, the public health experts who for decades had counseled patience and caution flinched…. They had to do SOMETHING---even if they had been warning for decades that what they were about to do would not work and might have terrible secondary consequences. So lockdowns spready country to country and state to state… The media cheered. Politicians vowed not to impose lockdowns, then changed their minds in days.” (Pg. 56-57)

He notes, “Arizona, Florida, and Texas have all seen big drops in hospitalizations in late July… In Texas, hospitalized COVID patients …. [had] a drop of almost 20 percent. In all three states, hospitals were stressed, but none faced overrun and the overall quality of care either COVID or other patients received appeared unaffected.” (Pg. 72)

He acknowledges, “Considered as whole, the evidence---at best---suggests had lockdowns MAY eventually slow the general spread of the coronavirus. After all, following months of lockdowns, the epidemic in Italy, Spain, and New York did burn out.” (Pg. 77) Later, he adds, “The lockdowns have punished all of us (except technology and social media companies, which are reporting record profits) enormously. Which might not matter if we had compelling evidence they worked… Lockdowns have failed as badly as the experts warned us they would, for precisely the reasons those experts spent their careers predicting. But the hysterics have learned nothing from the last four months.” (Pg. 79-80)

He says, “Having decreed masks could save people from SARS-COV-2, media outlets tried to embarrass anyone who refused. Not to wear a mask was to refuse to ‘follow the science’… and a sign of selfishness. Newspapers and magazines published insufferably arrogant pieces telling readers how to deal with the cretins who wouldn’t wear masks… I live in Ne York City and try not to wear a mask outside, so I have seen the change in attitudes firsthand. Recently, a masked woman in her sixties asked mt if I would step aside since she needed to walk around me and I wasn’t wearing a mask. We were standing several feet apart on a hiking trail.” (Pg. 89-91)

He argues, “hospitalizations are also rising. More than 80,000 Americans are now hospitalized with the coronavirus… The growth in testing is partially driving that rise. A significant fraction of those patients have been hospitalized for other problems. They are then found to be infected with SARS-COV-2 when they are tested in the hospital. But part of the increase in hospitalizations is real. And some regional hospital networks are under strain. The evidence is clear: the coronavirus is spreading faster in the United States than it has in months. All by itself this fact should raise serious questions about how well masks prevent the transmission of the coronavirus. Health authorities have told Americans for six months to wear masks. We have listened. More of us are wearing masks more often than every before. Yet the virus is spreading faster. How can that be, if masks work?” (Pg. 92)

Later, he comments, “If only we had a large randomized controlled trial that specifically examined whether masks protected their wearers from the coronavirus Now we do. In a paper published on Nov. 18, Danish researchers reported on a trial that covered almost 5,000 people in Denmark… half the participants [were] told to wear high-quality surgical masks and provided 50 for free. The other half were not asked to wear masks. Participants were followed for a month… Within the month, 53 people in the maskless group had been infected, compared to 42 who wore masks. The difference was indistinguishable from chance, and suggested masks might really cause anywhere from a 46 percent decrease to a 23 percent INCREASE in infections among their wearers… Mask wearing ‘did not reduce, at conventional levels of statistical significance, the incidence of SARA-COV-2 infection,’ the authors wrote in their discussion… The danish mask study essentially should end the debate if surgical masks protect people who wear them outside hospitals… Anyone who says otherwise, for whatever reason, is being untruthful---and as of Nov. 10, that group, unfortunately, includes the Centers for Disease Control.” (Pg. 104-105)

He continues, “the POINT of the universal mask mandates is to force people who do not feel sick to wear masks anyway, on the theory that people without symptoms can also spread the virus. Like practically ever other part of the ‘my mask protects you’ theory, this aspect is unproven. Worse… it has become highly politicized. Scientists including Anthony Fauci have reversed course on the likelihood of asymptomatic transmission.” (Pg. 110)

He concludes, “Yet despite the evidence that masks are of extremely marginal benefit … public health authorities continue to insist on them. The most obvious reasons are not medical but political. The ‘good’ reason is that masks are a visible totem that we are all working together against the coronavirus… The not-so-good reason is that masking people wear masks frightens them. Frightens us. Masks are warnings none of us can escape. This virus is different. This virus is dangerous. This virus is NOT the flu. We had better hunker down until a vaccine is ready to save us all. But the worst reason of all is that mask mandates appear to be an effort by governments to find out what restrictions on their civil liberties people will accept on the thinnest possible evidence… Today we must wear masks. Tomorrow we’ll need negative COVID tasks to travel between countries. Or vaccines to go to work. I wish masks worked. I wish we didn’t have to fight about them. But they don’t. And we do.” (Pg. 120-121)

Berenson makes an occasional good point, and he sometimes admits when the evidence runs against his preferences. But overall, his arguments (e.g., against masks---no health authority claims that masks ALONE prevent infection) fail to persuade me.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Fact based, sourced sited read that is essential to the days we live! Seriously, I think I highlighted to entire book! This will be kept on the bookshelf forever. I hope the author continues to publish these booklets. Easy to read and share. I may have to buy a few to pass on.

[Howard Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are being used

Great stuff. Dismantles the fake news on Covid, lockdowns and masks. Politics has trumped science. Talking of Trump, he should remove his statement that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Want to hear about hydroxychloroquine and vaccines next.

[Mr Des · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking

Although I am a 76 years old UK citizen I was in Florida between March 2020 and the end of August before returning to the east of England where I have remained until now, mid January 2021.

The much more draconian measures to combat the spread of the virus in the UK compared to those enacted in Florida do not appear to have met with success. That said, the issues affecting onward transmission are complicated. This well researched publication makes that clear.

What is also clear is that our political leaders, especially in the UK, have made far reaching decisions affecting all of our freedoms, social interactions and our collective economic well-being based largelyon unproven opinions, not facts. There was, of course, an excuse for this at the outset when COVID-19 was thought to be an unusual and particularly dangerous pandemic which there was little evidence about, which on the information now available it does not appear to be. I say that because statistically the additional deaths although regrettable seem mainly to have occurred in the very old who initially did not get the protection by isolation which they would have benefitted from. This had a large effect on the numbers of deaths attributable to COVID-19.

For sure it is another dangerous virus, especially to the elderly such as myself, but has it been regulated appropriately by our political masters after a full consideration of all the relevant evidence? This publication raises many issues we should all contemplate before coming to our individual conclusions.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid Information Everyone Should Read About the Lies...

Bree son does a good job examining the key issues surrounding efforts to control COVID-19. He does what few if any other journalists are doing; asking hard questions in an age where toeing the political line is more worthwhile than telling the truth.

Lockdowns don’t work—Researchers didn’t recommend them on large scales for stopping pandemics prior to 2020, and the data continues to suggest lockdowns don’t stop infection rates and have many adverse side effects.

So why are so many public health and government officials continuing to act as though lockdowns are essential?

Similarly, every quality study done regarding masking to prevent disease spread has found very limited, to no effectual efficacy.

So why are so many public health and government officials continuing to act as though masks work?

Recently, the CDC made a concerted push to get kids back into schools based on following the actual data. It was a good decision—we can’t harm students to play politics.

We can only hope we will see a shift from lockdowns and masks to policies that may actually work.

[Bertram & Debra Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no conspiracy in the TRUTH

If course it is only natural to agree with, and accept as truth and fact, that which is in line with it that concurs what ones view point. Such is human nature that we are ready to accept unquestioningly that which supports OUR view, yet demand cast iron 'proof' be presented on that which is contrary to said view. What makes this book (or series of articles if you like) compelling for me is not only that what they say concurs with my own thinking in the subject, but that the author presents a wealth of VERIFIABLE evidence/research to back it up.
At the very least, this book should move those who believe and support what the authorities are saying and doing to pause, think, look deeper - basically ask questions. I suspect however, that those who label those who doubt the truth in what the authorities tell us, as Conspiracy Theorist are not inclined to consider an opposing view to their own.

[Laurie Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down!

Pretty good read on the whole but I think Mr. Berenson might have been feeling a little jaded by the time he got to the 3rd booklet - it wasn't quite as thoughtfully written as the previous booklets (although I had no quarrel with the content.) Many useful links to helpful reports - much of it that I seen, but much more as well.

The following sentences really twigged with me. (I live in Japan.)

"If only sick people are wearing masks, face coverings may function as a public signal: I don’t feel well, stay away. But the point of universal mask mandates is to force people who do not feel sick to wear masks anyway, on the theory that people without symptoms can also spread the virus."

I often feel that masks have become next to useless now for this very reason.

[Paul Kurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well sourced booklet showing the science (or lack thereof) behind the recent lockdowns and mask mandates. In short, there is plenty of evidence that neither lockdowns or masks are effective at limiting transmission of respiratory viruses and very scant evidence that there is any benefit from them. I highly recommend this book to anyone willing to take the time to read it. It's a short book (only 100 pages for all three parts). The author is not a corona virus denier. It's obvious that it is real and that some people get really sick from it and some even die. It's also obvious that our governments' attempts to stop the virus have not been helpful.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there are sane, intelligent people and functional civilizations left on Earth in 100 years (which is doubtful, at least in the Occident), they will look back on the COVID era with complete bewilderment. I just hope this book series will not be "disappeared" so that future generations can understand that there were some rational voices calling out in the scamdemic wilderness, trying to calm the hysteria and inform reasonable, inquisitive people of the truth, that it wasn't all a completely embarrassing sh*tshow of full-blown psychosis and sinister bureaucratic/oligarchical scheming.

[Magnus Rasmusson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good summery of what is going on.

A short but good summary everyone should read. The powers that be are lying to us, and the more people that realize it the quicker we can exit this manufactured nightmare. Our biggest and only weapon is a total refusal to participate. Refuse to wear your mask, refuse to get the vaccine, refuse to test. Our media is part of the problem so we have to rely on ourselves to take responsibility for our health and to educate ourselves and to try and inform others.

[Richard Kieckhefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative

I found the information contained to be very thorough. The only drawback is there were many references to medical documents that were quite lengthy and filled with very technical data. I think it would help to summarize the info rather than having a link to additional docs that were hundreds of pages. I know some people who had COVID and others who just had symptoms.

[Melissa Reagan Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This small book is chock full of powerful facts. Backed by research both before and since the start of the pandemic, this should be required reading by every high school/college young adult, and even more importantly by any politician imposing restrictive measures with little to no evidence of their efficacy. A vital MUST READ!

[Beth A. King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Mr. Berenson!

Fantastic read, all information is cited so any doubting Thomas can take deep dives into the rabbit holes. I especially love when they lead to twisted laughable “fact checks” that only galvanize the realization that government forces have colluded with media sources to lie to the American people.

[Trale Broudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling

Seems legitimate, not fanatical hyperbole or denial. Responsibly cited quotes from experts, scientific studies and court cases. I will recommend to those in my circle who have not questioned the legitimacy of mask mandates

[Dustin F. Hecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great but hope its all updated

Should be required reading for all journalists and politicians. Lots of citations to evidence to support the author's conclusions. But much of it could be dated by now given all the new data.

[Jennifer P Nagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read for Sentient Adults

The author adroitly exposes the myths and lies behind mask mandates and lockdowns. Media complicity in spreading government misinformation is terrifying and must not go unanswered.

[Mariyan Traykov]

Must-read for anyone sceptical of the modern dogma

Amazing read for anyone interested in the 'science' about the covid 19 most prominent mantras. Brief and to the point, laying out reputable sources but showing them in a light contrary to the mainstream media hysteria.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful and factual

The sheer transparency of this manuscript, which includes hundreds of evidence-backed sources, should be enough to debunk the mythical health and societal implications touted by governments and media outlets alike. Will it be?

[John House · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leah Hampshire...read and relax

[CHERYL A POLING · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evidence-based critique of state and federal responses to the pandemic.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read this book and pass it on to help get the truth out. Stop perpetuating fear. Live not by lies.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening. It's very weird how covid19 has divided us and separated us. Or rather, our over-reactions to the virus have...

[Kris Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave me a whole new perspective on this Communist Chinses virus.

[Nischay Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berenson is one of the few rational contrarians in this age of excessive groupthink. No wonder this book was banned on Amazon.