Business opposed to renewed lockdowns
B4EL notes with grave concern the Level 3 lockdown restrictions announced by the president on Monday night. The latest restrictions, in keeping with the arbitrary and poorly-evidenced decisions throughout 2020, are disproportionate and will thrust business owners, employees, and suppliers into a renewed state of financial crisis.
In particular, hospitality, tourism, liquor and entertainment industries will once again be severely damaged, with indirect but very tangible negative consequences for virtually all other sectors.
Credible domestic and international studies show that lockdown restrictions cause enormous economic damage and loss of income and wealth. This is expected to lead to greater impoverishment, poorer health, and increased mortality unrelated to Covid-19.
The president blamed 'irresponsible' behaviour of the general public for the pressure on the hospital system. No evidence of this irresponsible behaviour was supplied, nor was evidence given that the enormous costs of such restrictions are worth the purported benefits of alleviating pressure on hospitals (assuming these benefits acrue).
Business for Ending Lockdown believes that the reported challenges of capacity facing the healthcare system should be addressed at source, with specialised region, sector, and hospital knowledge and targeted funding, whether public or private. The public and private hospital system needs a healthy economy, so that funding and resources are available to create additional healthcare capacity where needed.
However, the government has shown that it prefers the mass destruction of wealth to try temporarily alleviate healthcare constraints than to actually budget prudently, reprioritise unnecessary state spending toward healthcare, build cost-effective public health capacity, and free up healthcare sector regulations to allow the private sector to find innovative and efficient solutions to current challenges.
Business for Ending Lockdown emphasises that national and local economies are not optional luxuries. They are systems for everyone's survival. The economy is a life-support machine, not just hospitals. When you inflict considerable damage to an economic system from forced lockdowns, you diminish the resources available for healthcare services. You cause immense stress, anxiety and lack as people struggle to provide for themselves and their families. You breed poverty, and poverty kills.
Business for Ending Lockdown therefore urges government to lift the state of disaster and instead focus on addressing healthcare capacity at source through solutions at source, reprioritising state funds, running tenders with best-in-class, efficient contractors, and significantly freeing up the private healthcare sector to find innovative, efficient solutions to capacity constraints.
Statement issued by Russell Lamberti on behalf of Business for Ending Lockdown, 29 December 2020
