Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it? In my view the initial extreme lockdowns were essentially necessary due to the unpreparedness of the Western world.

How many people had masks in the West in March? Basically no one. And yet in the East people wear masks every flu season.

I have to admit to myself that a few years ago I thought my coworker wearing a mask to work after an illness was sort of an oddball thing to do, like this person watched one too many anime shows. I was wrong.

The West didn’t listen to the East when it came to previous serious pandemics. There was no alternative to extreme lockdown because there wasn’t and still isn’t any effective contract tracing.

As of May 11, Taiwan has only 7 COVID-19 deaths. They engaged in contact tracing essentially from day one. They were ready. You can’t be ready retroactively, that’s like starting a professional sports season without conditioning first.