Were they?
> There have been reported 7,076,316[4] (updated 3 December 2024) confirmed COVID-induced deaths worldwide. As of January 2023, taking into account likely COVID induced deaths via excess deaths, the 95% confidence interval suggests the pandemic to have caused between 19.1 and 36 million deaths
Hmm. I see. Definitely mass hysteria.
2. did COVID get eradicated in mid-2022, when virtually all supposed countermeasures were abandoned?
American 25 to 44 year olds experienced a surge in excess deaths peaking near 50% above baseline in 2020 [1].
> was there any point forcing children and teenagers into confinement for months?
Weeks to months, probably yes. Months to years, almost certainly not.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6942e2.htm?s_cid=mm...
The virus is weaker. We understand it better, which means better diagnosis and treatment. And we have vaccines, which reduce the burden on the hospitals.
2. No, Covid is still very much around, and people are still very much dying from it. It was the 10th most common cause of deaths in 2023, and a lot of people have lingering symptoms.
1(b) - I don't know.
2 - The current medical consensus is that not only has it not been eradicated -- it likely never will be.
Definitely mass hysteria.
To a partial extent it was. But it defintely wasn't simply a matter of mass hysteria.
Are you wiling to recognize that reality can sometimes have conflicting qualities -- e.g. there can be simultaneously "too much of a reaction" against a perceived threat; but also "some kind of serious response was needed; no one could possibly have known at the time what the optimal response would have been; sometimes it's better to err on the side of caution"?
Especially in regard to things like once-per-century pandemics, which are obviously still poorly understood?