Ben Fordham slams Dr Swan's Covid "alarmism"
Radio broadcaster Ben Fordham has launched a scathing attack on the ABC's Dr Norman Swan, condemning his "Covid scare campaign" in the wake of the Omicron wave.
The 2GB radio host jumped to the defence of Dr Angelique Coetzee, who "discovered" the Omicron variant in South Africa, who claims he has been subject to online "attacks" and abuse from scientists, doctors and global politicians for down-playing the severity of the variant.
Fordham called out a series of doctors who he called "Covid alarmists", as he urged listeners not to listen to them after citing low deaths rates from the latest Covid variant.
"This doctor [Coetzee] should be celebrated for her groundbreaking research on coronavirus but instead she had people trying to convince her to shut her mouth," he said.
"The death rate from Omicron is 0.1 per cent. Its fatality rate is the same as a bad flu season in Australia."
"But the scare campaign has been in overdrive. At the start of the pandemic we were warned about 150,000 deaths in Australia. We've had 4,300."
"All tragic but nothing like we warned about," he said.
According to the Australian Department of Health, the Australian death toll has been significantly higher since the Omicron variant, as opposed to the 2021 Delta variant.
Fordham went on to slam "Covid cheerleader" Dr Swan who recently claimed that Omicron was not as mild as previously believed and gave little to no natural immunity.
"Norman Swan was ignoring the science, he was ignoring the scientist who discovered Omicron," Fordham said.
The radio host continued his praise of Dr Coetzee, who said she has been "accused of lying" by many global superpowers.
"They are accusing me of lying, of downplaying Omicron because of how it has been in Europe … in their minds, it is impossible for a disease with more than 38 mutations to be mild."
"I have stated many times before it can be a serious illness if you are unvaccinated and have comorbidities but for the majority of people it is a mild illness."
"If a clinical feature proves I am wrong, then I will apologise."
Fordham ended the segment by praising Dr Coetzee, who has vowed to "stick to her guns" and not give in to the pressure.
"Good on you doctor. Don't give in to the scaremongers," he said.
Image credits: Instagram @benfordham9 @norman.swan