Hasn't the pandemic also taught us that we don't need to accept so many deaths by influenza? I mean, here in Denmark influenza almost vanished because we started using hand sanitizer and facemasks.
So to eliminate influenza we just need to destroy the economy, restrict travel, force people to pay $1000s in quarantine, cover our faces and close schools and office. And ignore all the negative consequences of that. Got it.
Your comment "almost vanished because we started using hand sanitizer and facemasks." is false. It was much more than that.
EDIT: and your links prove a reduction in influenza, yes, not "taught us that we don't need to accept so many deaths by influenza". That's a much wider debate and involves much more than scientific studies
I am also sorry that you don't like the “we don't need to accept”. I merely meant that we should have learned by now that we can avoid lots of influenza infections by very simple means, of which improved hand hygiene is probably the most important (I don't have time to look for links, so feel free to ignore the claim).
Denmark has no COVID-19 restrictions, but we do have extensive influenza sentinel surveillance, so we will see how it goes in the upcoming influenza season.