[ttfkam]

Are you suggesting that Chinese cities have been under continuous lockdown for the last two years? Because that's not the case.

Wuhan for example began its lockdown in Feb 2020 and ended it Apr 2020. There was a brief, limited lockdown in July of this year, but that's it.

Folks in China were able to freely mingle, eat out, etc. long before the West did. Reducing transmission is certainly not the only consideration, but the economy and public life are better by actually dealing with a deadly virus quickly than pretending it will just magically go away and dragging out its effects for two years (and counting).

[CompactNotice]

But no one is "pretending it will just magically go away." You're contending with an obvious strawman here. They're simply judging that we do not need ongoing threats of lockdowns to control a virus with an IFR about 1.5x that of influenza, any more than we ever needed them for the flu.

[ttfkam]

No one except the President of the United States for the better part of a year in front of a large number of microphones, transmitted to millions of screens. Memories are short. https://youtu.be/TgZAazfHo7k

Approximate US death stats via CDC, influenza vs covid-19:

2018-2019 - Influenza 34,200

2019-2020 - Influenza 25,000

2020-2021 - Influenza 700 - Covid 350,831 (Lockdowns in effect)

2021-2022 - Influenza 1,700 - Covid 771,000 (Vaccines available/lockdowns lifted)

But by all means, explain how Covid-19's IFR is just 1.5x that of influenza. Please provide evidence from reputable sources that can reconcile these numbers.

[CompactNotice]

This was in February, so the situation has likely improved even further as more people have acquired natural immunity: https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1492138139103768576

If influenza deaths had been counted in prior years the way Covid deaths were counted, they would have been far higher than the figures you cite.