Those measures might slow down transmission slightly. But they wouldn't be anywhere near sufficient to achieve "zero covid". In the end we'll all eventually get exposed. Fortunately the vaccines and other therapies are fairly effective at preventing deaths.
The only major country still even attempting a "zero covid" strategy is China, and they're failing. In open societies the measures that China is taking aren't even practically or legally feasible.
South Korea seems to be doing well, and they qualify as open and democratic. Current incidence 8 cases per 100000 people (US: 200 cases per 100000), tendency falling. It's unclear why people are talking defeatism. The current state of affairs in the US is a political choice, one that is unacceptable.
(And why do you quote Vinay Prasad on COVID? He is an oncologist by trade, and some of his pronounciations are frankly loopy.)
Cases in South Korea have risen and fallen many times. They have never reached "zero covid", and their current measures obviously can't be sustained forever.
South Korea also has highly secure international borders. That situation will never exist in the USA.
Everything Dr. Vinay Prasad stated in the linked article seems scientifically accurate. Do you have a substantiative criticism, or are you going to stick with ad hominem attacks?
Incidence in South Korea has been consistently two orders of magnitude less than in the US, due to adequate containment methods. I haven't read about unrest or concerns about exonomic output because of the COVID measures in Korea. Have you?
No idea where the notion comes from that the dismal state of affairs in the US is due to porous borders - there's enough community transmission going on so we won't have to worry about imports through air travel or illegal immigration. Once local transmission is squashed we can worry about quarantining international travelers or corralling migrants.
Come on, Prasad invoking the Nazis over mask mandates? That was out of order.
I laugh when I see people say “country X is doing well now”.
South Korea was having record infections months ago. You know, it comes in waves. No use comparing one country who is on the tail end of a wave with another country in the middle of a wave.
If they are panicking, how about us? The stories from r/nursing are frightening. Lots of people are going to quit nursing in the coming months over working conditions and burnout, and since immunity against coronavirus is not persistent, there's going to be a re-run next winter, but with less healthcare personnel.
Same with teaching. Working conditions are shit, salary is poor, and spending time in a classroom with current incidences is an invitation to catch the plague. Many won't be back, come next August. Some will be underground.
Cellular immunity is highly persistent. While reinfections can occur, symptoms are typically mild. Sure you can find isolated cases where symptoms were more severe the second time around but those are very rare.
I think some people get confused because they see lower antibody levels and assume that means loss of immunity, but that's not how the immune system works at all.
And you can't seriously expect us to act based on random Reddit posts. We all know that site is heavily manipulated by a small group of moderators and it isn't a reliable source for anything more important than funny memes.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/vinay-prasad/94646
https://youtu.be/GklHGYY8vN8
The only major country still even attempting a "zero covid" strategy is China, and they're failing. In open societies the measures that China is taking aren't even practically or legally feasible.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/china/xian-covid-outbreak-loc...