David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, was interviewed this morning by Paul Brennan on Reality Check Radio. David said that according to the authoritative ‘Our World in Data’ global website run by Oxford University, New Zealand has had no excess deaths during the last three years of the pandemic. In other words, David thinks fewer people have died in New Zealand during the pandemic than you would expect from the historical trends. So I went to Our World in Data to fact check David. Here are the results by year.
The solid orange is excess deaths compared to years 2015-2019. The solid blue is when deaths are less than expected. The blue line is the average 2015-2019. The black line is the current number of deaths by week. The data speaks for itself. My conclusion: I am pretty sure David has never visited Our World in Data. As you can see, excess deaths are getting higher year by year. 2023 is currently running at approximately 18% above the historical average. We are on target to have 6,000 additional deaths in 2023 compared to 2015-2019.
Remember we had virtually no Covid in New Zealand up to September 2021. See here for official Covid infection and death data for NZ:
The relatively lower 2020 excess death figures are due to strict border controls, lockdowns, social distancing, and track and tracing, which kept both Covid and seasonal flu out. In 2021 lockdowns continued, and flu was kept at bay at the border, but as the vaccine rollout began, excess deaths rose. Subsequently, we followed the same upward trajectory as other countries. Just notice that we can’t blame this on Covid because the upward trend began before Covid arrived.
During the interview, David Seymour reaffirmed his support for the Covid vaccination programme and derided any suggestion that there was any safety issue with Covid vaccines.
David told the audience that he was not entirely stupid
We need to not only ask politicians hard questions but also insist on factual answers. I wonder who misled David Seymour, and why didn’t he fact check the figures before passing them off to the public? David told the audience that he was not entirely stupid and a trained engineer who knows how to read a scientific paper. But does he read published papers on Covid safety? It doesn’t seem so.
David also outlined his enthusiasm for genetic engineering, saying that opposition to GMOs in New Zealand was being driven by the superstitious and the crazy. Do you think David Seymour would pay enough attention to safety if elected? With the widespread introduction of genetically engineered mRNA vaccines, we have had a massive in excess deaths, which David seems to want to brush under the carpet.
David is not alone, all our political parties are pretending there are no excess deaths. It would be too embarrassing, considering their support for mRNA vaccination, for them to admit the facts. We need to hold all our politicians to account. There are thousands of deaths unacknowledged by those we have trusted to run to the country. Currently, every day 16 more New Zealanders are dying than the historical trends would predict, but our politicians are not just remaining silent. They are pretending it is not happening.
Listen to Paul Brennan’s interview with David Seymour here:
