There is degrees to freedom of speech and until the chinese invent telepathy, freedom of thought is preserved, always. But to the first point I just made; you

There is degrees to freedom of speech and until the chinese invent telepathy, freedom of thought is preserved, always. But to the first point I just made; you can have freedom of opinions and freedom of facts. The former means you are free to state your opinion on things and it's something you get for example in germany. The later means you can state anything you want as a fact, regardless of if it's true and if you know it's true. That part is something most countries, even the US, regulate to some extend (false advertising in medical supplies for example). Spreading false facts about a pandemic ought to be regulated by law, you do not have freedom of fact and never had it. You continue to have freedom of opinion in a lot of countries and IMO the number of countries that have it hasn't change since the pandemic started.