FROM FEAR TO CONNECTION:Challenging the Narrative of the Pandemic Era

I have struggled with a lingering fear: that people will never fully grasp the unjust impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates, allowing history to repeat itself.

The resulting collective trauma displaced countless families into homelessness. Overdose deaths among those struggling with addiction were reported to have surpassed COVID-related fatalities at one time. Meanwhile, suicide rates rose as billionaire wealth surged, while the privileged class simply shifted seamlessly to remote work. Since 2021, I have watched all-cause mortality rates rise suddenly, even as unaware people continue to line up for their multiple boosters.

I repeatedly hear tragic stories in my small friend circle of stillbirths, unaccounted-for illnesses in newborns, and unexpected deaths—not just among the elderly, but among healthy young people suffering from heart attacks, myocarditis, strokes, and aggressive cancers. I listen to neighbours in stunned silence as they fail to connect the dots between these injections and the chronic illness epidemic that continues to make pharmaceutical companies multi-billionaires while leaving patients chronically sick.

As a nurse, I have watched allopathic medicine excel at addressing acute illness in intensive care units, emergency departments, and operating rooms. Yet, I have also witnessed a disturbing shift: an increase in patients suffering from incurable chronic conditions, rendering them reliant on pharmaceutical products. By failing to address the root cause, Western medicine ensures its business model thrives to satisfy the stock market. True health—or healing—is not a lucrative outcome.

Instead, chronic illness keeps the system afloat. Psychiatric medications, for instance, represent a significant revenue stream, largely because discontinuing SSRIs frequently leads to severe withdrawal symptoms. In Aaron Siri’s, a human rights lawyer, book Vaccines, Amen: The Religion of Vaccines, he challenges the dogma surrounding vaccines and the solid customer base they have provided for years.

The Hantavirus Narrative: Fear vs. Fact

Why is the mainstream media (MSM) ramping up fear reporting daily on a Hantavirus outbreak? This occurs even as the burden of chronic disease is rising globally due to aging populations, urbanization, and lifestyle changes—such as diets high in processed foods, toxic overload of pesticides in food, and air pollution. These chronic conditions, heart disease and cancers account for 75% of most deaths and disability worldwide, surpassing infectious diseases.[1]

Consider the facts: By the end of 2023, only 890 cases of Hantavirus disease had been reported in the United States, a population of roughly 335 million. With approximately 27 deaths annually, the risk ratio is roughly 0.0000077% per year—about 1 in 12.96 million people. While the absolute number of deaths is tragic for those affected, the statistical probability of any random person in the U.S. dying from Hantavirus is extremely low. The “Global Hantavirus Outbreak Monitor” reports only 70 cases globally and 3 deaths[2]

To put this in perspective, this risk is significantly lower than common causes of accidental death, such as car accidents or falls, which claim tens of thousands of lives annually. It is comparable to, or even lower than, risks associated with rare natural disasters or specific animal attacks, like shark bites. Yet, noticeably, there is no risk assessment printed to put the Hantavirus story into context. Much like the COVID-19 vaccine, where patents were approved years before the actual outbreak, the Korea University Vaccine Innovation Center teamed with Moderna on mRNA-based Hantavirus vaccine development on September 9, 2024. The business called “health care” seems to need new customers.

A Conversation That Lifted the Fog

My spirits were lifted this week during a genuine conversation with a person I had known casually for years. We began by discussing a virus she had contracted, but the dialogue evolved over an hour into an unpacking of the “forbidden topic”: COVID-19. Stepping into my nursing role, I listened carefully and validated what her intuition had been telling her for the last six years. We shared several key insights that resonated deeply with our combined experiences and believe are a big part of helping people making informed choices:

1. Asymptomatic Transmission Was a Falsehood. She believes the concept of asymptomatic transmission was a falsehood. We both agreed that everyone is technically “asymptomatic” daily, as our immune systems constantly fight off incoming viruses, bacterial infections, and even cancer without causing symptoms. The logic is simple: When you get any symptoms, stay home. Until you are symptomatic, you are not contagious.
2. Masks Are Harmful and Ineffective. She recounted experiencing shortness of breath and a headache whenever she wore a mask. I agreed that masks act as a physical barrier that restricts airflow and traps carbon dioxide, explaining the difficulty she faced. I also noted that masks are ineffective because airborne viruses are smaller than a hair and easily escapes around the nose and mouth with every breath[3]. I clarified that, in my nursing practice, I only wore a mask to shield patients from saliva entering open wounds.
3. The COVID-19 Vaccine Was Not a Traditional vaccine. She shared that a medical professional had warned her that the COVID-19 vaccine was not a traditional vaccine and advised her against taking it. I agreed that the injection was not a traditional vaccine using an attenuated virus to stimulate the immune system. As a result, the COVID-19 shots did not stop transmission or prevent infection. That medical professional likely knew about early reports of serious adverse reactions and weighed the risk of vaccination against the risk of illness, knowing that over 98% of people recovered naturally and that repurposed drugs proven to work in 2021 existed. Tragically, my brother died after receiving the COVID booster and the flu shot, making adverse reactions very real to me.
4. Natural Immunity Is the Gold Standard. We both agreed that we had always steered clear of flu shots because we believe natural immunity remains superior to vaccine-induced immunity, which relies on “yesterday’s” variants or best-guess predictions that never provide a good match for replicating variants[4].
5. Lock downs and Mandates Violated Ethics and Human Rights. She observed that the code of ethics guiding healthcare professionals was eroded during the pandemic, noting she felt forced to comply with mandates to access necessary services. She recounted crying while receiving the shot because she did not want it, yet it was still administered. I agreed that a medical intervention should never be forced upon a patient in exchange for basic human rights, such as accessing healthcare, public spaces, gyms, restaurants, or public transportation. It sounded like she experienced a situation where she did not have the right to determine what goes into her body—a violation of the ethical principle of bodily autonomy.

Furthermore, there was no long-term data available to read on the COVID-19 vaccine, meaning no one could complete a proper risk-benefit analysis, thus violating informed consent. In my practice as a registered nurse, when we were asked to administer an experimental product in Phase III clinical trials, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, a triplicate consent form was required and signed by the doctor, nurse, and patient to honour true informed consent. Being coerced rather than informed is unethical; forcing something into your body that you do not want may well be the reason she was crying.

She was acutely aware that private medical information is stored electronically. She expressed deep distress at watching this privacy erode as vaccine passports became mandatory for entering businesses. I believe this led to discrimination and the dehumanization of customers by business owners, normalizing the violation of ethical principles that support human rights making people feel unsafe.

For further context on the ethical principles referenced above—mainly informed decision-making, honouring bodily autonomy, and protecting private medical information—I recommend reading Ethical and Procedural Responsibilities of Registered Nurses in Canada[5].

The Way Forward: Listening and Healing

When we parted, she told me it was nice to talk. As I walked away, I realized that bringing people together is surprisingly simple: it begins with one conversation, one person at a time. Ultimately, this isn’t about being right; it is about hearing another person’s story, acknowledging trauma, and validating their intuition. I think silencing someone who intuitively struggled with mandates but had no one to confide in is a tragedy many people have endured. By finally having the space to reflect on these events, she was able to identify the information she needed to make an informed choice about her health —a realization that gives me hope that history will not repeat itself.

I am fortunate. With my intensive care unit colleagues, I learned early to complete a risk assessment when caring for people with all kinds of infectious diseases. It became necessary to decrease our anxiety. We looked up all-cause mortality, read the research to see if the diagnostic tool was valid, and then examined the recovery rates. I cared for many people with TB without a mask back then—and never got sick.

As Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Now, as Hantavirus coverage floods the MSM with fear-mongering, the five insights above will help people navigate the storm and take responsibility for our own health sooner this time. We can all go forward knowing that our intuition is the expert of our health, not a public health official that mandated a medical intervention without completing patient health assessments.

Mark Nepo writes in The Book of Awakening: “Having the life you want by being present to the life you have, the only response to adversity or misunderstanding is to be who we completely are, to share ourselves more. Otherwise, we are reacting, countering, never being.” (p. 160)

We can all choose to stop reacting and instead respond moment to moment. By engaging in practices like meditation, we can raise our light and energy during these dark times. When we focus on what we want and bring more light into the here and now, we shift the collective energy toward more peace, more love, and more understanding.

From this place, we can move forward to listen, acknowledge, and hear another person’s story—one conversation at a time. This, I believe with all my heart, is the only way forward. Having a one-on-one conversation allows me to continually reevaluate whether someone is ready and open to entertaining different beliefs—the awakening needed to come together.

If you have a story to share, I invite you to join the Re-humanization HeART movement. As a participant, you’ll receive:

• A health promotion coaching session
• A custom portrait painted by me
• An invitation to our monthly coaching group

Join the Movement: https://www.createwithlynda.com/post/the-rh-m
Contact: Lynda McLeod createwithlynda@protonmail.com

Sources for this article include:
[1] Our world in Data. What do people die from in different countries. https://ourworldindata.org/what-do-people-die-from-in-different-countries
[2] HVI Hantavirus international. https://hantavirus.international
[3] McLeod, L., (2022). Educational Mask Handouts Offering information so people can make informed choices about their health.
[4] McLeod, L., (2022). Who will you become. https://ljmcleodshawca.substack.com/p/who-will-you-become
[5] Cockle, M., McLeod, L. (2024). Ethical and Procedural Responsibilities of Registered Nurses in Canada. https://www.cccalliance.ca/ethical-and-procedural-responsibilities-of-registered-nurses-in-canada/

We would like to thank CHA Member Lynda McLeod for giving us permission to run this article in the Canada Health Alliance newsletter. You can read her original post at: https://ljmcleodshawca.substack.com/p/from-fear-to-connection-challenging and we would recommend following Lynda at: https://ljmcleodshawca.substack.com/