"Worse for who?" is the question a lot of people should have asked. I'm not responding to this thread anymore. People are still cultish about this discussion.
Worse for everyone. It's absolutely wild that you think elementary public health is a conspiracy.
Many Countries which did little had better results. Arguable that all efforts outside protecting nursing homes were futile or harmful.
By "many countries" do you mean "Sweden, if you cut off the data right before their big wave"?
It isn't just Sweden and even where you may have some questions about the data, it is no small thing for countries which put fewer restrictions to have rates which are of the same magnitude as those with heavier restrictions, given the huge costs.