Our model suggests that global deaths remain 5% above pre-Covid forecasts
I for one am sick of all the covid related back biting and second guessing. There was no way a major pandemic was going to be anything but an unmitigated natural disaster of global proportions. Policies chosen as “least bad” are still bad. Maybe they were worse, maybe they were just less bad. No one sold them as good. Now the job of science is to pick out what was efficacious and what was worse. But the moaning about policies that were unpleasant to my mind ignores the fact that <i>it was a global natural disaster</i> and it was <i>never</i> going to be ok, or pleasant, or not inconvenience you. For some people the policies were worse than the disease. For millions that didn’t die, they were better.  As a species I wish we could put down our gripes and figure out how to make the next time less bad, but we need to realize even then it’s going to be a global natural disaster and those might interfere with your preferred daily routine.<p>Edit: to those who brought up ways that the inconvenience was greater than disrupting their preferred daily routines (missed funerals - same happened to me, loneliness, other tragedies).  First, I had my share as well and I empathize and mine were fairly horrific with profound impact on me and my family I still struggle with. That comment wasn’t meant for you, but there are many who just simply didn’t like the inconveniences. The rest was for you. It was a global disaster. Disasters are tragedies, heaped upon tragedies. We made good decisions, bad decisions, ineffectual decisions, but ultimately nothing would have made it good, ok, or anything but a disaster of monumental proportion. I’m sorry it was hard for you, it was for me too. It was hard for <i>everyone</i>.  I’m down with healing together.  I’m down with learning and evaluating. I’m down with building a better society from our pain.