Major U.S. Health Insurers Report Big Profits, Benefiting From the Pandemic

Some of the largest companies, including Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealth Group, are reporting second-quarter earnings that are double what they were a year ago. And while insurance profits are capped under the Affordable Care Act, with the requirement that consumers should benefit from such excesses in the form of rebates, no one should expect an immediate windfall. But the amounts that insurers are retaining have caught the attention of the Trump administration. The Health and Human Services Department advised companies to consider speeding up rebates, and on Tuesday suggested that they reduce premiums to help consumers through the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

Just this Wednesday, CVS Health, which owns Aetna, the big insurer, posted much higher earnings. CVS, which also owns a large pharmacy benefit manager and a drugstore chain, said net income for the second quarter reached $3 billion, about $1 billion more than it reported for the same period of 2019, on revenues of $65 billion.

Others had already trumpeted blockbuster results, ensuring that their stocks weathered swings in the markets. Anthem’s net income soared to $2.3 billion for the second quarter, from $1.1 billion in 2019, while UnitedHealth reported net earnings of $6.7 billion, compared to $3.4 billion for the same three months last year.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/77671/major-us-health-insurers-report-big-profits-benefiting-from-the.html

As Trump Advances Ban, CIA Says No Evidence of TikTok Giving Data to China

TikTok will contest banning

Chinese app TikTok remains under fire by President Trump, with allegations that their being Chinese means China could access their user data, making it a serious problem. President Trump is set to ban TikTok next month.

US officials see this as something China is bound to do with their apps, because Edward Snowden’s leaks showed this is exactly what the US did with its many apps and their user data. And yet did it happen?

The latest report out of the CIA says no. While they said it is possible for China to access such user data, because of course it is, they confirmed that there is no evidence that any such things ever happened with TikTok.

TikTok had already said they’d done nothing wrong, faulting Trump’s ban as denying them due process. They promise to “pursue all remedies available to us.” With US tensions toward China growing, it’s likely they’ll try to limit remedies.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/08/07/as-trump-advances-ban-cia-says-no-evidence-of-tiktok-giving-data-to-china/

Diplomat says detention of 33 Russians in Minsk was third country’s provocation

Maria Zakharova noted that this story was presented "as almost an operation of Russia’s to deploy some specially trained people to destabilize the neighboring country"

SOLNECHNOGORSK /outside Moscow/, August 8. /TASS/. The detention of 33 Russian nationals was a carefully designed provocation of a third state, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

"The story about 33 Russian citizens detained in Belarus has been rocking the information space for a week minimum. It was presented as almost a Russian operation to deploy some specially trained people to destabilize our neighboring country. And what has turned out? It happened to be a third country’s provocation as is now being established based on the facts," she said.

"People have lived on that for a week. Over a week, it was a talking point, articles were written, conclusions made, an outlook on the future shaped," she said. "How difficult it will be to give up the assertion that has been shaped in those recent days, as it is hard to admit being wrong."

Zakharova also noted that It is unacceptable to use the situation with Russian nationals detained in Belarus for electoral purposes.

"Those people’s guilt has not been proved. It is inadmissible to use these people for certain electoral purposes or interests," the diplomat said.

"The main thing is that it is inadmissible to use this situation, to promote - as it has already been reiterated at all levels - that performance with participation of Russian citizens for electoral goals."

Zakharova said she cannot assess the transparency of Belarus’ presidential election before it is actually held, adding that observers from a wide range of countries have been deployed to that country, and therefore, they should assess the electoral process.

"I cannot assess the transparency of the election before it takes place," Zakharova said on Saturday at a meeting with participants of a Russian youth educational forum. "Secondly, there is a mission of observers from a variety of countries whose duty is to evaluate the entire process of elections."

The diplomat recalled that Russia has been calling on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) along with other international organizations for many years to work out a code and common criteria for assessing the transparency of electoral processes.

"So many men, so many minds. So many political parties, so many discontented or, on the contrary, positive assessments. How can we speak without a clear defined criterion that this was more transparent and that was less transparent or non-transparent at all?" - Zakharova added.

https://tass.com/politics/1187191

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Twitter: Arab citizens criticise Macron's actions in Beirut

French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Lebanon on Thursday sparked controversy over the nature of the visit among social media users.

While some believed that this visit carried a message of support for Lebanon after the massive explosion that took place in the Port of Beirut, others believe that it was “not innocent”.

Macron visited Lebanon on Thursday and met with political leaders and toured Gemmayzeh Street, which is considered the most affected area in Beirut.

The French president spoke with citizens and assured them that France would provide aid to the people, not to politicians.

A devastating explosion occurred in the Port of Beirut on Tuesday, leaving at least 154 people dead, around 5,000 wounded and dozens of persons still missing under the rubble.

According to preliminary investigations, the explosion occurred in Ward 12 of the port, which the authorities confirmed contained about 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, stored since 2014.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200808-twitter-arab-citizens-criticise-macrons-actions-in-beirut/

For Biden Family, a History of Tax Problems

Hunter Biden hit with $450,000 tax lien last month, the latest in a series of tax problems for Biden family members

Hunter Biden was hit with a $450,000 lien in July over delinquent state income taxes, which he paid off in six days despite having no discernible income. Last year, he told the court judge in his paternity case that he was broke and unemployed.

The younger Biden owed $238,562.76 in state income taxes from 2017 and $215,328.16 in state income taxes from 2018, according to records from the District of Columbia’s Office of Tax and Revenue. The District of Columbia filed a $453,890 lien against him on July 9.

The lien is the latest in a series of substantial tax problems members of the Biden family have faced over the years, from Joe's brother James’s six-figure tax debt in 2015 to multiple liens filed against Joe's sister Valerie and her husband. It also raises new questions about Hunter Biden’s finances, which have been scrutinized during the election cycle. The lien follows controversy over Hunter's high-paying consulting work for companies in Ukraine and China, and a high-profile child support case in which the younger Biden claimed he was in "significant debt" and refused to turn over court-ordered financial records.

A spokesman for D.C.'s Office of the Chief Financial Officer confirmed that Hunter Biden’s lien was released on July 15 after the "tax issue was resolved." The office declined to say whether Biden had paid off the debt.

Harvey Bezozi, a tax expert who specializes in large-scale tax debt negotiations, said the only way to get a lien released is to pay the settlement in full—often through a payment plan, penalty abatement, or other compromise with the government—or to prove the lien was filed in error. He said liens can take months or years to resolve.

"It drags on," he said. "Six days had to be some kind of expeditious kind of process for this."

Bezozi said the government rarely files liens in error. "Generally the lien filing process is a very stringent and reviewed approach because it’s a serious thing when you file a lien. It’s public record," he said.

The Biden campaign did not respond to questions about how Hunter Biden settled the debt in less than a week and whether he has found gainful employment.

The Biden family has been hit with several tax liens over the past few decades.

https://freebeacon.com/2020-election/for-biden-family-a-history-of-tax-problems/

Thousands gather in new round of anti-Netanyahu demonstrations

Rallies being held outside PM’s residences and at overpasses across Israel as part of ongoing protests against premier over his indictment on graft charges, handling of pandemic

Thousands of Israelis gathered Saturday evening in protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of ongoing demonstrations over his indictment on corruption charges and handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The main protest was taking place outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, where anti-Netanyahu rallies have been held regularly in recent months. TV reports said some 5,000 people had gathered by 8.30 p.m. Hundreds of police officers were deployed at the scene.

Crowd size at the near-daily demonstrations there has usually swelled on Saturday evenings, with police saying 15,000 people took part in last Saturday’s demonstration, the largest yet.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-expected-to-take-part-in-anti-netanyahu-demonstrations/

11 New Symptoms of the Collective Awakening

Perhaps you can relate to some of these new signs of the awakening?

1 You see a clear connection between the chaos in the world and the inner turmoil you’ve been diligently working to transform.

2 You just don’t do fear anymore. It no longer has the pull on you it once did. You know yourself to be spirit.

3 You understand that the universe is mental, and that your thoughts are the most precious tools of creation. For this, you readily notice when your mind is slipping from the present moment and when it tries to engage you in fear. You have the power and determination to bring it back into alignment with your purpose and mission.

4 You’re learning how to powerfully use your voice to contribute to the awakening and to help those who cannot speak for themselves.

5 You don’t play sides, and you don’t choose a team. You watch, observe, and disengage when you see people acting out on agendas that are not their own.

6 You see the futility and danger in belief systems, and you don’t bow to authority. You stay firmly grounded in what is real and what can be verified by your own experience. You are your own master.

7 You give people of all beliefs the freedom to expose their fear, anger and confusion however it may surface. You don’t judge, debate, or try to correct people who don’t see the world as you do.

8 You care for yourself first so that you may have more power to care for others.

9 You deliberately work to foster connection between yourself and others, above and beyond the superficiality so prevalent in public discourse.

10 You fully trust in this process and accept the fate of the world as part of it.

11 You recognize that your most powerful task is that of letting go.

Final Thoughts

The stakes are incredibly high right now and the future of human freedom is at stake. This is not hyperbole. The Great Reset is coming our way; and while the globalists, central banks and international agencies would like to hijack this and steer us toward a new form of technocratic worldwide Orwellian slavery, the human race has never before had such a true opportunity to free itself from their chains.

It’s game on people, time to play your part.

Defy them. Glory in your awareness and freedom. Be bold and brash in the face of whatever they throw at us. Our fire is what is setting their cobweb of deceit aflame and they know it…but never mind them. Our concentration needs to be on manifesting the Truth. Their mechanisms are in place to discourage initiative, any sense of freedom or autonomy, and our clear and given knowledge of personal sovereignty. ~ Zen Gardner

https://www.activistpost.com/2020/08/11-new-symptoms-of-the-collective-awakening.html

While Americans Sacrifice To Survive The Pandemic, CEO Compensation Has Barely Changed

It looks as though we are in the midst of another recession where those in the C-suite are little affected; and in some cases where the Fed has stepped in, doing better than they were financially before the pandemic. And the "shared sacrifice" from most company's CEOs - many of whom took pay cuts to show "solidarity" with employees - has actually been far less than imagined.

A new survey from the NY Times shows that out of 3,000 public companies, these cuts have come in the form of salary reductions that paled in comparison to CEO's total pay, which is often made up of stock awards and bonuses.

It was "only a small percentage" of companies that even cut salaries for their senior executives to begin with, the Times notes. Among the ones who cut, about 66% of CEOs took reductions that were equivalent to only 10% or less of their total 2019 compensation. Companies in this group include Walt Disney Company, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Marriott International.

Companies last year paid executives an average of 264 times their median worker salary. It's another example of how the pandemic has disproportionately affected the middle and lower class. The Fed's response to the crisis, has also served as a monumental example of this.

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/while-americans-sacrifice-survive-pandemic-ceo-compensation-has-barely-changed

Antifa Rioters With Shields, Body Armor Turn Residential Portland Into a War Zone

The streets of Portland again became a war zone on Friday night, as antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters with large plastic shields and body armor blocked traffic and hurled mortar fireworks, concrete, and rocks at police near the Penumbra Kelly police building in a residential neighborhood. As police broke up the riot on the 70th straight night of rioting in Portland, some antifa rioters trespassed onto a man’s property. He told them to leave in no uncertain terms.

A group of about 200 rioters gathered at Laurelhurst Park near the Kelly building between around 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The rioters began marching toward the Kelly building, with “support vehicles” escorting them and blocking “all vehiclular traffic,” Portland Police reported. Police told the rioters that if they stepped onto the building property, they would be subject to arrest.

As police arrested members of the mob, rioters threw rocks at officers and blocked all lanes of traffic. “Several people in this group wore helmets and gas masks as well as carried shields,” the police reported.

Police told the mob of antifa rioters to disperse, but they continued to block traffic and trespass onto the Kelly building property. Rioters began taking concrete pieces off of a retaining wall and chucking them at police officers. Others smashed the concrete on the ground into pieces and hurled them at police. Others shined lasers that can cause permanent eye damage at police officers.

Police said this brawl continued for hours. The footage is terrifying.

Police stopped a vehicle and arrested a rioter for shining a laser at police. At 12:10 a.m., antifa rioters began chucking frozen or hardboiled eggs, rocks, and commercial fireworks at officers in the parking lot. At 1 a.m., both Oregon State Police and Portland Police began dispersing the crowd.

As the antifa mob dispersed, rioters continued to hurl rocks, bottles, and explosives at police. Rioters attempted to stop police vehicles using pool noodles filled with nails, apparently intending to rip up tires. “One police vehicle suffered extensive tire damage,” the police reported.

Despite all of these attacks on police officers, Portland Police did not use any tear gas.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/08/08/portlander-kicks-antifa-off-his-property-after-rioters-threw-fireworks-concrete-at-cops-n766165

Half a million incorrect absentee ballot applications sent across Virginia, including to dead people

“Approximately half a million applications sent to eligible voters in Virginia included incorrect information, and we are working diligently to address the issues,” says the Center for Voter Information

A non-profit group says more than a half-million inaccurate applications for absentee ballots were mistakenly sent across Virginia this week including to dead voters, errant relatives and even a pet in an unprecedented mailing flub that has heightened concerns about the integrity of expanding mail-in voting efforts.

The mistakes raised alarms with recipients as diverse as election monitors, members of the League of Women Voters and a retired FBI agent. The Center for Voter Information, the nonprofit group that sent the mailers with pre-filled absentee ballots, is now apologizing.

The Center for Voter Information said the absentee application mailings were sent to “eligible voters” in the state and "some of the mailers may have directed the return envelopes" for the absentee applications to the wrong election offices.

The counties impacted by inaccurate mailings included Fairfax City, Fairfax County, Franklin City, Franklin County, Richmond City, Richmond County, Roanoke City and Roanoke County.

“Approximately half a million applications sent to eligible voters in Virginia included incorrect information, and we are working diligently to address the issues. Mistakes in our programming are very rare, but we take them seriously, and our methods overall are extraordinarily effective,” the center said in a statement.

“We know that voters are on high alert as the November election approaches, and we regret adding to any confusion. Please rest assured that we are working with local election officials in Virginia to re-direct the vote-by-mail applications to the proper locations, and will rectify any errors at our own expense,” the group said.

Jonathan Shapiro, president and CEO of Smith-Edwards-Dunlap Company, the printing vendors for the Center for Voter Information, said the printing mistake "occurred because we incorrectly aligned a spreadsheet that matched the voter with their local election office."

Shapiro said their error "created confusion for voters who are trying to exercise their right to vote from home, safely and conveniently."

The League of Women Voters said some of their members received mailings with incorrect names on the ballot applications inside.

“One person stated that a dead person received one and a pet received one,” said Deb Wake, president of the League of Women Voters in Virginia, according to WTOP.

According to another local news report, mailings were sent to “people who were deceased or ineligible to vote.”

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/virginia-absentee-ballot-applications-sent-dead-people-and-wrong

The Evilness of America’s Ruling Class

The landmark Gilens & Page study in 2014, which was the first study anywhere to examine the data to determine scientifically whether or not a given Government is a democracy or instead a dictatorship, studied the U.S. data, and found conclusively that it’s a dictatorship. The U.S. is controlled by its six or seven hundred billionaires (the study identified America’s ruling class as only “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests”, but the people who own the controlling interest in over 90% of that and hire their lobbyists and fund the careers of the winning politicians are simply America’s billionaires, the U.S. oligarchy or “aristocracy”). After that landmark 2014 study, other reports came forth, all adding further confirmation to its findings.

What is the result of billionaires-rule?

America has a higher percentage of its people in prison than any other nation on Earth, and none of America’s prisoners are billionaires nor spouse or child of any, except for the very few organized criminals who were cheating and stealing from other billionaires (and, since billionaires rule America, that’s the only type of crime a billionaire can be successfully prosecuted for perpetrating in America — crimes against other billionaires). The people who control the people who write and enforce the laws don’t need to worry about prison. Almost all of America’s prisoners are, in fact, poor people, not even middle-class — and virtually none are upper-class. They’re born poor, live poor, and die poor.

Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and George W. Bush, have all had their careers funded by America’s billionaires, and that’s why these politicians received their respective Party’s nominations. Without the billionaires’ support, they’d be nothing, just losing politicians. You get the nomination by representing your Party’s billionaires, not by representing its voters. Behind the scenes, even America’s racial caste system is enforced on behalf of both Parties’ billionaires, because supremacism is what they all share, regardless of their rhetoric to the contrary, and there is a groupist element to this supremacism. (Every aristocracy is like that — very groupist.)

And this fact shows itself most starkly in international relations, America’s imperialism, from which the whole world suffers.

That’s why the U.S. Government is profoundly evil: destroying Iraq in 2003-, destroying Libya in 2011-, destroying Syria in 2012-, etc., and trying so hard to destroy Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China, and any other country it hasn’t yet destroyed and is still trying to conquer via sanctions, coups, or invasions.

It’s not the American people who are evil; it is all of America’s billionaires — not a one of whom funds any anti–imperialist candidate. They ALL want conquest, because they all are supremacists.

Here’s just one example: Elon Musk.

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/08/evilness-america-ruling-class/

Report: Ex-CIA Chief Brennan Has Been Told He Is Not Target Of Durham Probe

Former CIA Director John Brennan is set to meet with the prosecutor investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, though the Obama-era spy chief has been told he is not a target of the probe, according to reports.

NBC News reported this week that John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, asked to interview Brennan as part of his investigation. A source familiar with the matter told NBC that Brennan agreed to be interviewed, and the two sides are working out a time to meet.

According to NPR, Brennan has been told that he is not a target of Durham’s investigation, which began in March 2019, as the special counsel’s probe was winding down.

Attorney General William Barr tapped Durham to conduct a sprawling review of the FBI, the CIA and other agencies’ investigative and intelligence-gathering activities related to the Trump campaign and Russia.

Durham’s work has overlapped with a Justice Department inspector general’s investigation, which found that the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in an effort to obtain spy warrants against Carter Page, a former Trump aide.

The IG said the FBI withheld information that undermined the credibility of the Steele dossier, which investigators used in applications to the FISC.Durham is also reportedly investigating an Intelligence Community Assessment developed in late 2016 that said Russian President Vladimir Putin meddled in the 2016 election specifically to help Donald Trump win the presidency.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/08/john-brennan-john-durham-cia-trump-russia-probe-target/

MD: Use HCQ For COVID-19 To Re-Open America Now!

Americans have some very urgent questions that need immediate answers:

Why is the White House Coronavirus Task Force requiring masks, social distancing, contact tracing, the lockdown, and a vaccine when a simple COVID-19 treatment could make them unnecessary?

Why does Bill Gates say the world cannot go fully back to normal until nearly everyone gets his rushed mRNA COVID-19 vaccine that has never been used on humans and could alter our DNA?

Why are Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsing this rushed, unprecedented vaccine when there is are at least three effective treatments for COVID-19 that are being used successfully and could re-open the country immediately without a vaccine?

Become a Natural Blaze Patron and Support Health Freedom HERE.

Do Gates and Fauci have an ethical conflict of interest in promoting the COVID-19 vaccine since they will profit massively from it?

Why are the Tech Titans (Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) blocking information from America’s Frontline Doctors and other top health professionals who want to tell Americans about effective treatments they have been using successfully for months to cure COVID-19?

Why have those treatments been withheld, resulting in the unnecessary deaths from COVID-19 of 70,000 Americans, and why are those treatments still denied most Americans?

What can we do to stop the censorship of this vital information and help ensure access to these life-saving treatments so we can re-open America now?

If America Uses HCQ For COVID, We Can Go Back To Normal Today!

Data or Deceit? The CoVid-19 Peak Numbers reported in April that Dr. Vladimir Zelenko of New York had used Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate, Zinc, and Z-Pak to treat 699 coronavirus patients with a 100% success rate. No patients died. The cost was about $20 for five days. The video explained that this treatment has been known since at least 2004.

Dr. Zelenko has his HCQ/zinc protocol at: https://thezelenkoprotocol.com/ along with two other doctors. The press release on the site is available in 12 languages! It has comments and responses to the comments. The site links to a 35-page document.

Dr. Vladimir Zelenko Treats Covid-19 With Hydroxychloroquine & Zinc is a July 2nd video interview with Dr. Zelenko. He reports that seven countries have contacted him and are using his protocol for COVID-19: Israel, Brazil, Honduras, Chile, Ukraine, Guatemala, and parts of Russia. Dr. Zelenko says that if the standard of care he is advocating were adopted in America, the economy could literally open up today!

More

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/08/md-use-hcq-for-covid-19-to-re-open-america-now.html

Farmageddon Continues As Bankruptcies Rise 8%

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) released a new report Tuesday (Aug. 4) showing farm bankruptcies continue to increase.

AFBF found bankruptcies rose 8% over the last 12 months (from June 2019 to June 2020), with 580 filings. The Midwest, Northwest, and Southeast recorded the most bankruptcies, representing 80% of all filings across the United States. Wisconsin was the epicenter for filings, followed by Nebraska, Georgia, and Minnesota.

Filings slowed in 1H20 partly because of financial assistance provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act, including direct payments to farmers via the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), along with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Farmers are on government life-support.

AFBF’s President Zippy Duvall said the new rounds of farm aid helped cushion farmers from the economic impact of the virus-induced recession.

AFBF’s Chief Economist John Newton said CARES Act assistance was only a “bandage,” warning filings could increase if aid programs are not continued.

Get Non-GMO storable food HERE!

AFBF said, “approximately 60% of farm bankruptcies have been completed successfully – the highest successful percentage of all the reorganization chapters.”

Even before the virus pandemic, a global farm glut pressured agricultural prices. Farm incomes imploded, and bankruptcies began to increase in 2016. President Trump then unleashed a trade war against China, which in itself forced Chinese buyers to abandon US markets for South American ones.

Even with a phase one trade deal, China continues to abandon US markets. We noted earlier this week that purchases are significantly lagging.

Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute expects the Trump administration to dish out a record $33 billion in aid payments to farmers this year. What this all means is that farmers are on government life-support.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/08/farmageddon-continues-as-bankruptcies-rise-8.html

The Myth That Lockdowns Stop Pandemics

From the beginning of time, humans have used mythology to make sense of a chaotic natural world. Sir G.L. Gomme dubbed myths “the science of a pre-scientific age.” Folklore provided pre-scientific people a comforting sense of control over nature. To address dry spells, they deployed rain dances. Sunless stretches hindering crops prompted offerings to Helios. Then, our ancestors sat back and waited. The rains always came. The sun always reappeared, validating their “wisdom,” the illusion of control reinforced.

Thanks to science, we know this was pure superstition. Though the same outcomes would have occurred had the tribe taken no action, the tribe leader would still have received credit or blame from his constituents. Similarly, today’s politicians race to take credit or place blame for COVID-19 “results.” Do politicians really control these outcomes, or are they simply exploiting our ingrained tendencies?

When China first deployed lockdown in January to “defeat COVID-19,” The Washington Post approvingly quoted a Georgetown University professor as saying, “The truth is those kinds of lockdowns are very rare and never effective…”

In March, Imperial College London's dire projections influenced the White House, but a careful reading of the advice contained in the Imperial College report reveals that its authors knew lockdown alone could not eliminate any infections, only delay them: “The more successful a strategy is at temporary suppression,” it stated, “the larger the later epidemic is predicted to be in the absence of vaccination, due to lesser build-up of herd immunity.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pandemic planning documents state non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing are ineffective once a disease infects 1% of a region's population. Literature on this subject is unanimous worldwide. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:

“There are no historical observations or scientific studies that support the confinement by quarantine of groups of possibly infected people for extended periods in order to slow the spread. It is hard to imagine that measures like those within the category of social distancing would not have some positive impact by reducing transmission of a human respiratory infection . . . However, the evidence base supporting each individual measure is often weak.”

Decades of evidence corroborates this. In 1969, a group of men overwintering in Antarctica experienced a spontaneous respiratory virus outbreak during their 17th week of isolation. Similarly, COVID-19 appeared on an Argentinian naval ship on the 35th day of its voyage, following a 14-day isolation of captain and crew.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/07/the_myth_that_lockdowns_stop_pandemics_143899.html