One of the main elements driving people's acceptance of, or even demand for, oppressive and unhealthy measures to deal with the alleged pandemic is the the fact that "people are dying". Many have experience of a loved one, friend or acquaintance who has died in hospital in harrowing circumstances. To raise any question about the dominant view of the nature of covid is seen as an insult to the memory of such folk, and to the brave health workers who fought to save their lives. I suppose those who cannot break out of that mindset will not even have read this far. Those who have, however, may be open to the possibility that getting out of our predicament may involve stepping outside such an emotional and mental framework for a while in order to get a fresh perspective. To help in this process I will enlist the aid of observations made by Dr Claus Köhnlein, an experienced clinician who practices in Kiel, Germany, and describes himself as "a very orthodox internal medica...