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> For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. The problem is only half the populatio

> For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. The problem is only half the population really followed through. These measures are still needed more because half the population effectively thinks COVID is no big deal or a hoax.

xigoi 5y ago
Many of the restrictions were mandatory, so all people had to follow through…
- ajford 5y ago
  Yeah, just because it was mandatory doesn't mean people followed through. I live in a very progressive city and we still had many people refusing to follow mask mandates at the height of pre-vaccine pandemic. People ripping down mask signs, spitting on people, arguing at the doors to a store, etc.
  - xigoi 5y ago
    Interesting, I haven't noticed any of that. Maybe my country has a different mentality. I do see some people not having the masks cover their nose, but definitely nowhere near 50%, more like 5% at worst.
    - ajford 5y ago
      Totally get that. A friend of mine from Finland said compliance with mandates and safety advisories was a lot better back home than those in the US. There's a lot of people in the US arguing that mask mandates and other medical precautions are "violating their freedom".
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    As they should. Mask mandates were always more religion than science. Calmer heads decades from now will suggest as much.
- sleepybrett 5y ago
  My parents live in a moderately rural area outside of seattle, i live in seattle. The end of very first week of the lockdown my parents were able to acquire or had already had a few items I could not find in stores in the city. Primarily toilet paper, but a few other items as well. So I drove over to their place and they leant me some stuff, we were all paranoid so they left the stuff in the garage, I drove up, waved to them on the porch and loaded up my car and headed home. I did need to stop and get gas before getting back on the freeway, at the gas station there was a little mini-mart. There were four people inside, none of them had a mask on. The gas station is next to a Denny's or similar, their dining room was closed but there were people waiting INSIDE and UNMASKED for takeout. That's why we can't have nice things, even if your town/city collectively was pretty serious about lockdown, the next town over might not be and their citizens are coming into your community to work or whatever else. The only enforcement is the local sherif and if they are a crazy gimme liberty or gimme death type they aren't going to enforce shit.
dehrmann 5y ago
We were never going to stop it. As soon as the "real lockdown" people were calling for in the US in April, 2020 was lifted, the virus would start spreading again since there would always be travel, p999 events, people violating lockdown, and animal reservoirs that would reintroduce it. China is the best case for "following through." It can hold back covid, but only through extensive testing, lockdowns, and border restrictions in perpetuity. Given US values (e.g. "don't tread on me"), 15% of the population would ignore restrictions. You'd also see the same thing globally, sometimes because of values, sometimes out of economic necessity. We never had a chance to vaccinate the world quickly enough, either. Up until delta, the mRNA vaccines might have been able to eradicate it, but delta was circulating in India around when those vaccines were approved. The logistics and manufacturing capacity to deliver them to rich countries was still 6 months away.

xigoi 5y ago

Many of the restrictions were mandatory, so all people had to follow through…

ajford 5y ago
Yeah, just because it was mandatory doesn't mean people followed through. I live in a very progressive city and we still had many people refusing to follow mask mandates at the height of pre-vaccine pandemic. People ripping down mask signs, spitting on people, arguing at the doors to a store, etc.
- xigoi 5y ago
  Interesting, I haven't noticed any of that. Maybe my country has a different mentality. I do see some people not having the masks cover their nose, but definitely nowhere near 50%, more like 5% at worst.
  - ajford 5y ago
    Totally get that. A friend of mine from Finland said compliance with mandates and safety advisories was a lot better back home than those in the US. There's a lot of people in the US arguing that mask mandates and other medical precautions are "violating their freedom".
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  As they should. Mask mandates were always more religion than science. Calmer heads decades from now will suggest as much.
sleepybrett 5y ago
My parents live in a moderately rural area outside of seattle, i live in seattle. The end of very first week of the lockdown my parents were able to acquire or had already had a few items I could not find in stores in the city. Primarily toilet paper, but a few other items as well. So I drove over to their place and they leant me some stuff, we were all paranoid so they left the stuff in the garage, I drove up, waved to them on the porch and loaded up my car and headed home. I did need to stop and get gas before getting back on the freeway, at the gas station there was a little mini-mart. There were four people inside, none of them had a mask on. The gas station is next to a Denny's or similar, their dining room was closed but there were people waiting INSIDE and UNMASKED for takeout. That's why we can't have nice things, even if your town/city collectively was pretty serious about lockdown, the next town over might not be and their citizens are coming into your community to work or whatever else. The only enforcement is the local sherif and if they are a crazy gimme liberty or gimme death type they aren't going to enforce shit.

dehrmann 5y ago

We were never going to stop it. As soon as the "real lockdown" people were calling for in the US in April, 2020 was lifted, the virus would start spreading again since there would always be travel, p999 events, people violating lockdown, and animal reservoirs that would reintroduce it. China is the best case for "following through." It can hold back covid, but only through extensive testing, lockdowns, and border restrictions in perpetuity. Given US values (e.g. "don't tread on me"), 15% of the population would ignore restrictions. You'd also see the same thing globally, sometimes because of values, sometimes out of economic necessity. We never had a chance to vaccinate the world quickly enough, either. Up until delta, the mRNA vaccines might have been able to eradicate it, but delta was circulating in India around when those vaccines were approved. The logistics and manufacturing capacity to deliver them to rich countries was still 6 months away.