rent Smith wrote in his Feb. 5 WorldNetDaily column, under the headline “WHO changed virus test parameter the day Biden took office”:
On Jan. 20, 2021, the WHO (World Health Organization) posted an important bulletin regarding polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for COVID-19. What else happened on 20 January that was important? That’s right. It was the very same day Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. But I’m sure the WHO release was purely coincidental.
LifeSite News claims that the notice was released one hour after Biden took office. Although I can’t confirm that exact time, the WHO guidance bulletin is dated Jan. 20, 2021.
This “new” guidance will change everything, and it has caused me not just to say, but to scream, SEE I TOLD YOU SO! The reason is that I and many others uncovered these facts many months ago – that the COVID tests were far too sensitive and that the WHO apparently was suppressing this information out of both fear and for political gain.
Likely millions of people who were told they were COVID positive, were not. Millions were forced into quarantine that shouldn’t have been. Countless businesses were closed and people permanently laid off unnecessarily.
Well, that didn’t actually happen. Two days later, WND changed the headline of Smith’s column to “The WHO, its virus test parameter and Joe Biden” and added this correction:
CORRECTION Feb. 7, 2021: A fact-check by Health Feedback found that most positive COVID-19 PCR test results are true positives and that the WHO information notice didn’t change the threshold or criteria for a positive COVID-19 test. The COVID-19 PCR test detects the presence of the genetic material of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. The test is highly sensitive, meaning that it can detect very small amounts of the virus in infected individuals, including those in the early or late stages of infection. The test is also highly specific for SARS-CoV-2, meaning that it doesn’t detect the presence of other viruses, such as other members of the coronavirus family that cause the common cold. Although no tests are 100% accurate, given the PCR test’s high sensitivity and specificity, most positive COVID-19 PCR test results are true positives.
While it’s nice WND is actually getting around to correcting false claims that it publishes — though not the biggest ones, Obama birtherism and Seth Rich conspiracy theories — perhaps it should have an editing and fact-checking process that prevents those false claims from getting published in the first place.