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> people were actively undermining them pretty much from day one. This is what actually fucked the US and led to the million deaths there. I live in Ecuador an

> people were actively undermining them pretty much from day one. This is what actually fucked the US and led to the million deaths there. I live in Ecuador and we had a bad go in the first few months of the pandemic, with near total lockdown and many deaths. Afterwards though, we went very hard with masks and reasonable restrictions on numbers of people in buildings at once and the cases/deaths have been very steady and controlled since then. Yes, masks really do work, if everyone actually wears them, our numbers have proven this. The biggest restriction has been that schools have shut or gone remote during the entire pandemic and only recently have in-person classes started back up. The US seems to have had it much much worse and it seems to be entirely self inflicted. I personally don't understand why the US didn't just give up after a few months once it was obvious that people wouldn't really do what it takes for success. It looks like the US has stayed on a path that everyone hates, but keeps getting no benefit from.

nradov 5y ago
Ecuador had a much higher death rate than other countries which took less extreme measures. Sweden, for example, never shut down primary schools and never had much in the way of mask mandates yet they came through much better. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
- giraffe_lady 5y ago
  I don't think you'd want to compare sweden to all other countries, just ones with similar resources and cultural trust in authority. Doesn't seem that great in that light actually. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5 > Many elderly people were administered morphine instead of oxygen despite available supplies, effectively ending their lives. Seems like sweden took some pretty extreme measures just not in the direction of preserving life.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Sweden had fewer per capita deaths than many other EU member states. You haven't provided any evidence that extensive pandemic control measures actually helped.
- erdos4d 5y ago
  Pointing to EC as "the" way to handle this is not my point. The fact is, there were many paths available to the US that could have helped keep that million people from dying. We proved that masks work if people use them, that is a fact. Other strategies also can work. My point is, if the US could have gotten its people on the same page and actually done something rather than self sabotaging itself, it would be a completely different story. As it stands, it failed at this, and it has kept its ineffectual policies in place, to the detriment of social cohesion, but sadly not the virus.

nradov 5y ago

Ecuador had a much higher death rate than other countries which took less extreme measures. Sweden, for example, never shut down primary schools and never had much in the way of mask mandates yet they came through much better. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

giraffe_lady 5y ago
I don't think you'd want to compare sweden to all other countries, just ones with similar resources and cultural trust in authority. Doesn't seem that great in that light actually. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-022-01097-5 > Many elderly people were administered morphine instead of oxygen despite available supplies, effectively ending their lives. Seems like sweden took some pretty extreme measures just not in the direction of preserving life.
- nradov 5y ago
  Sweden had fewer per capita deaths than many other EU member states. You haven't provided any evidence that extensive pandemic control measures actually helped.
erdos4d 5y ago
Pointing to EC as "the" way to handle this is not my point. The fact is, there were many paths available to the US that could have helped keep that million people from dying. We proved that masks work if people use them, that is a fact. Other strategies also can work. My point is, if the US could have gotten its people on the same page and actually done something rather than self sabotaging itself, it would be a completely different story. As it stands, it failed at this, and it has kept its ineffectual policies in place, to the detriment of social cohesion, but sadly not the virus.