How should we have handled covid?

It's unfair to complain about messures, if you can't come up with anything better.

Below are what I think could have lead to better outcomes.

1. China - lockdown sooner





I was in China during the start of the pandemic. I found out about the virus from friends /family in the UK. Not from anyone in China. We where allowed to travel for Chinese New year (and so was everyone else). In my mind, this is what resulted in the world wide spread. If lockdown was implemented before Chinese New Year the spread would have been slower.

Then again the initial spread was really fast. Maybe an earlier lockdown would have saved a few days /weeks. Maybe this would have been more hassle than it was worth.

I was annoyed that it was allowed, then we where told of how deadly and dangerous it was. How they handled lockdown also annoyed me. Far too strict.

2. Herd immunity





This is what has lead to where we are now. Vaccination speeded things up.

Then again the earlier strains where far worse. If we aimed for herd immunity early on many more folk would have died.

I think that if we allowed young /healthy induviduals to work /catch covid we could have been able to keep more things running. This would have made herd immunity quicker to reach, but in a safer way.

3. No mask mandates




You can't spread something you don't have. I believe masks served as a placebo to make people more comfortable with going out. And they served that purpose well. Being forced annoyed a lot of people and lead to them being sceptical and refusing to follow further rules. If they had a choice, maybe they'd be more willing to trust further rules.

4. Healthy living




I never saw any ads on how to live healthier /boost your immune system. Why not?

Even if it where ineffective against covid. The placebo effect would have reduced mental health issues. Being healthier would also reduce the hospital load as less people would be seeking treatment. This seemed like common sense to me. This should have been the first thing they done.

5. Choice




I didn't agree with forcing workers to be vaccinated.

Vaccines serve as getting people closer to an asymptomatic stage. If you are already close, why the need for a vaccine? People shouldn't have been pushed. That lead to more distrust and pushback.

6. Protests




I stopped listening to advice when I saw the BLM protests. I was told for months about how deadly and contagious this virus was, only for that to be ignored because protesting 'the right thing ' is more important. Huge groups of people, crowded together is suddenly not going to lead to mass cases /deaths? I was sceptical, but as I watched I saw that it wasn't the super spreader I thought it was. As a result I decided to see friends again and to start returning my life back to normality.

7. No lies

I saw a lot of lies for why certain rules where implemented. It did not make sense to me. Wear mask into restaurant, take of at seat, why? Air spreads to fill the room. Not just the small section your sitting at. And we where told it doesn't take much covid to make you sick so even with a larger spread your still going to get it off your on the same room. Right? Or if it's not right we were lied to about the potency. Lots more like this lead to me (and many others) taking each new rule less and less seriously.

8. Rise in cases

This was a lie that annoyed me more than others. During Christmas 2021 we where constantly told about the rise in cases, yet they failed to comment on the steady death numbers. Cases where rising due to it being winter and the push for people to test more. I didn't appreciate being treated like a fool.