Even among epidemiologists it was the dominant viewpoint until things got politicized.
Look at the UK’s flu pandemic preparedness plan from 2011. Made for a flu with a CFR up to 2.5 percent. (Much more deadly than Covid). It is essentially an anti-mask lockdown skeptical plan.
Yes, the current sitting Health Minister in Canada said in their 2006 flu plan with the same CFR that we will / should never lockdown so plan for other measures.
You are assuming on their behalf that the plan for a novel virus would be the same as for the flu.
(For example, the vaccine timeline would likely be faster for a flu variant than it was for Covid, which was already fast vs what you would want to potentially plan for)
You do raise a fair point. And the imagery coming to us last year absolutely terrified people. People collapsing in the streets (what was the deal with that?). Piles of bodies in Italy.
I feel the iron law of bureaucracy explains a lot of our response.
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