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> having ever locked down was stupid, we were always going to end up with endemic covid

COVID lock down/shelter in place orders were never intended to avoid endemic disease altogether. They were about slowing down its spread just enough that the healthcare system would remain functional while the disease became endemic. And they mostly worked OK for that.

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One of the issues with how it was handled was the handwavy and contradictory information that many governments and public health czars circulated: that handwashing is most important, that masks are effective or not effective or only some kinds are, that the lockdown will be "two weeks to slow the spread" and so forth.

It was the public health equivalent of "take two asprin and call in the morning". While there were successes for sure, clear and consistent communication was not among them.

A lot of that came right from the top. In the UK we had a prime minister who said he was shaking peoples hands in hospital and attending his mothers birthday party to nearly dying within a couple of weeks.

Yeah, that was too bad.

They were in some countries.

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