Ben Fordham exposes data that shows what’s really causing Covid deaths 

Ben Fordham has hit out at the Covid ‘scare campaign’ after it emerged underlying health issues were involved in 92 per cent of Australian coronavirus deaths.

There were 2,639 Covid-related deaths nationally between March 2020 and January 31 – of which 2,556 (96.8 per cent) had an underlying health condition – according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

There were 32,000 deaths from heart disease in Australia in that period, with Covid deaths making up only one per cent of all fatalities nationwide.

‘We’re not overplaying the situation and we’re not ignoring the victims,’ the 2GB host said. ‘But these records expose the overblown scare campaign we’ve witnessed.

‘Ninety-two per cent had other underlying health issues – an average of three [underlying health issues] per person. It wasn’t Covid that claimed their lives.’

Those underlying health issues ranged from pneumonia to kidney infection or chronic heart illnesses, according to the ABS data. 

Fordham said the health advice during Australia’s lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 should have focused more on countering one of the worst Covid co-morbities- obesity.

‘Why aren’t we warning people that one of the biggest risk factors is carrying around too much weight,’ he said.

‘Were we worried about fat-shaming?’

The US, where 16 states have obesity rates of higher than 35 per cent, has the world’s highest Covid death rate with 947,895 fatalities.

Fordham’s comments came as the latest wave of Omicron cases subsides and calls grow for Covid restrictions to be scrapped immediately in Australia. 

NSW is due to reassess Covid restrictions on February 28 with Premier Dominic Perrottet set to review rules on masks, check-ins and hospitality venues. 

The 2GB host said it wasn’t ‘overplaying the situation’ to say the new records expose ‘the overblown scare campaign we’ve witnessed’

Dr Nick Coatsworth agreed Australia needs to start removing mandates but said it needed to do it in a safe and forward-thinking manner

While any changes will need the backing of the state’s Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant, experts have warned the public will lose faith in the government’s Covid response if useless or ineffective rules are kept in place. 

Dr Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert from the Australian National University, said there was no need to continue the use of check-ins because the NSW Government has stopped conducting contact tracing. 

‘The only point of doing QR coding is if you’re going to do something with it,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.

‘Unless people understand what you’re going to do with it, you won’t get people complying.’ 

Dr Nick Coatsworth agreed Australia needs to start removing restrictions in case so they can be reintroduced effectively if needed.  

‘We have to be adept at removing restrictions when it is safe to do so,’ he said.

‘Why? Because if we need to bring them back in the unlikely event of a more lethal variant than we have to keep the trust of the community.’  

Experts are calling for an end to the use of QR codes in Australia after officials scrapped the recording of new infections

‘Many Australians see now that masks are not having the impact on Omicron that they may have had with less transmissible variants,’ Dr Coatsworth said.

Dr Coatsworth said that if masking was to continue for another fortnight to ‘bring the less certain members of our community along, that was okay’, but stressed that he ‘would like to see them go in schools and indoor setting as soon as possible.’ 

The former deputy chief medical officer earlier on Tuesday said ‘the tide has turned on masks’ now 94 per cent of Australia’s over-16 population were vaccinated against the virus.

‘People recognise they had a place at a time of uncertainty, but are appropriately re-assessing their value especially in schools,’ Dr Coatsworth wrote.

Masks are compulsory for students in Year 3 and above in Victoria and highly recommended in NSW.

‘It is a good time to re-evaluate primary and secondary school mask policy in all Australian jurisdictions,’ Dr Coatsworth added.