The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its China Virus numbers yet again, with its current and now “best estimate” for the COVID-19 fatality rate among infected people down to 0.3% — far lower than initial projections that spurred shutdowns nationwide. In fact, the CDC estimates that 35% of individuals infected with COVID-19 never experience symptoms, which means that the total rate of infection is 50% higher than the number of symptomatic cases. This would once again indicate that the virus is much more widespread than previously assumed.

These latest numbers from the CDC appear to support the findings of Thomas A.J. Meunier, a researcher from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In a recent article published in the medical journal The Lancet, Meunier concluded that the “full lockdown policies in Western Europe countries have no evident impacts on the COVID-19 epidemic.” Meunier argued, “I expect that when we count the number of deaths from COVID-19 in each country in one year from now, the figures will be similar, regardless of measures taken.” Sweden’s former lead epidemiologist, Johan Giesecke, concurred, arguing that lockdowns ultimately don’t prevent deaths; they simply push them a bit further into the future.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Friday, “We can’t stay locked down for such a considerable period of time that you might do irreparable damage and have unintended consequences, including consequences for health.” He added, “I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go.”

Fauci’s recent comments come on the heels of last week’s letter to the White House from more than 600 doctors calling for an end to the “national shutdown” over growing concerns of a coming “mass casualty incident.” The letter warns, “Millions of casualties of a continued shutdown will be hiding in plain sight, but they will be called alcoholism, homelessness, suicide, heart attack, stroke, or kidney failure. In youth it will be called financial instability, unemployment, despair, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, poverty, and abuse.”

Evidence seemingly supporting the letter’s dire claims comes from John Muir Medical Center, a hospital located outside of San Fransisco, which reported more suicides this past month than deaths from COVID-19. Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, head of the emergency department, observed, “We’ve never seen numbers like this in such a short period of time. I mean we’ve seen a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.” A trauma nurse stated, “What I have seen recently, I have never seen before. I have never seen so much intentional injury. They intend to die.”

Given that the fatality rate is far lower than expected, while deaths of despair are rising, inquiring minds want to know: Was this whole lockdown worth it?

Finally, one of the factors fueling the ongoing political divide between continuing lockdown measures indefinitely versus reopening is data showing that blue states are actually suffering a higher rate of COVID-19 deaths than red states. Much of this is likely due to the fact that Democrats run most of the densely populated urban areas and, of course, the denser the population, the higher the likelihood a virus spreads.