COVID Lockdowns Were a Giant Experiment. It Was a Failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with this example is that Sweden is a small, culturally homogenous, fairly wealthy country in a northern climate. Would the same approach have the same outcome in the US? Probably not.

Like questions I'd want answered include:

- Did high conscientiousness among Swedish people result in voluntary social distancing during Covid peaks even without lockdowns?

- Did the climate in Sweden, with just a short summer season, allow Sweden to avoid the worst of the pandemic because people there socialize less outside their families in cold months anyway?

- Did Sweden's strong social safety net play a role?

I do tend to think that hard, very restrictive lockdowns likely have less of an effect on death rates than we think, and also that prolonged lockdowns have real costs that we are still reluctant to acknowledge in many cases.

The problem is that this is a topic that’s such a magnet for propagandists and kooks that it’s hard to have a rational discussion about this.

We’re the descendants of people who survived endless waves of epidemics.

Chances are that, given a few days’ notice, people will spontaneously, instinctively, ferociously enforce any lockdowns that are really necessary.

The sign that the lockdowns stopped being necessary once we had access to masks is that plenty of ordinary people rebelled against the lockdowns after about two or three weeks.

But, on the other hand, it seems a little silly to judge the people who imposed the lockdowns. For the first few weeks, they had no idea what they were really up against.

And it’s not really fair to compare the United States with another country, because we probably don’t know what combination of virus variants, immune system genes and antibodies people went into the pandemic with.

Maybe the United States had worse results because a tougher strain dominated here, or because we had more people with genes that made them vulnerable to COVID.

Another problem is that it’s easy to assume that anyone who brings up the topic is a Russian or Chinese social media outreach worker who mainly wants to stir up trouble, install a fascist puppet government in Washington and help Putin conquer Europe.

I think most people remember and understand the uncertainty that came in the spring of 2020, and can forgive all but the silliest restrictions (e.g., closed playgrounds).

The issue is that many restrictions continued long after that initial knee-jerk reaction to a new risk.

They were not silly restrictions. They were in place to reduce hospitalizations for a highly contagious illness where hospital beds and ventilators were scarce. If you are so upset over being asked to stay home for a few weeks, you really need your mental health checked.

Other silly ideas we had to deal with: wiping down groceries, decontaminating mail, wiping down grocery carts, wiping down checkout belts, etc.

Activities that temporarily mollified the germaphobes until they thought of new "health precautions."

Remember two weeks to flatten the curve that changed to Zero COVID?

Actually doing some stuff like wiping down grocery carts and check out belts is a good practice.

How many diseases are spread by conveyor belts? Would it be statistically measurable? It would roughly be the same as requiring everyone wear a knit hat when driving to reduce head injuries.

If you cannot understand the common cold, flu and other bacteria that can get on your food are an issue and surface based there is no hope for you. We wear seatbelts to prevent injury and have air bags.

Show me the science that cleaning supermarket conveyor belts has any impact on disease spread. Wearing a hardhat while outdoors would reduce head injuries. Should we advocate for that next?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly at this point who cares. We did the best we could under a unique and heretofore inexperienced event. This is for scientists to be studying to plan for future pandemics. Getting angry now is ridiculous.

The problem is we weren’t allowed to ask questions and dissenting views were discouraged. Anytime you’re not allowed to ask questions or push back on something you should be concerned. The climate at the time didn’t allow questioning of precautions.

What are you talking about? There were plenty of people who questioned everything and did whatever they wanted anyway. It’s not like the police came and arrested people for expressing dissenting views. Even in early covid when people were dying, plenty of people questioned why they had to be inconvenienced to save other people’s lives and behaved accordingly. Lockdowns were never going to work in this country because we are a narcissistic and selfish society who rarely behave for the greater good of community.

+1 million - one of the most notable things about the COVID response was the almost immediate rise of a faction of loud people that were determined to push back against any measure that would inconvenience them in the slightest.

The measures were dumb. Just delaying the inevitable.

The truth is, we don't really know. There were too many people who ignored measures or implemented them improperly (see people with masks under their noses). And I don't trust a lot of data. See the lady on one of these threads who talks about how they were supposed to have a covid test before getting on a plane and the nurse came, they paid her to just go away, and she didn't do the test. So how many people did that nurse NOT test but report as negative? Repeat that kind of BS all over the country and you get suspect, useless "data".

So when people go on on here about "the data" i almost have to laugh. Except that it's so sad. What decent data do we really have?

And these same people are saying outright they will ignore public health directives next time around because of what they have "learned". Even though they have no idea what could be the cause of the next pandemic and how it will differ from covid.

God help us all.

Measures that the public is unable or unwilling to perform reliably are not effective public health measures. That should be a major lesson from the pandemic response. We spent 18 months keeping kids out of school and telling people to mask while walking on the sidewalk or between the restaurant table and bathroom rather than actually focusing on measures to help those at risk of severe illness.

We are talking about two different kinds of effective. There is effective re: preventing spread of a disease. Masking and some of the measures, had they been implemented widely and properly, could have done that.

You are talking about PR. Find me anything you can get all Americans to do these days. Americans are a bunch of stupid, entitled little sh**s who won't do much of anything if it inconveniences them.

Different things. And Americans' stupidity is not a valid reason not to try when something like a pandemic happens. But it is not encouraging for the future.

Also, plenty of the masking policies and mandates that were in place were not practical, effective, or necessary. Did you have a preschooler in the pandemic ostensibly subjected to all-day masking at age 2? Did you have children with ASD or sensory processing disorders? Did you live in a jurisdiction that required masks on the sidewalk, but not at a restaurant table?

Do you know how many germs there are on the street?!?!!?!??!? /s

This is a perfect example of a poster who is truly stupid. She doesn't know she is stupid, because stupid people think they are the smartest in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly at this point who cares. We did the best we could under a unique and heretofore inexperienced event. This is for scientists to be studying to plan for future pandemics. Getting angry now is ridiculous.

The problem is we weren’t allowed to ask questions and dissenting views were discouraged. Anytime you’re not allowed to ask questions or push back on something you should be concerned. The climate at the time didn’t allow questioning of precautions.

What are you talking about? There were plenty of people who questioned everything and did whatever they wanted anyway. It’s not like the police came and arrested people for expressing dissenting views. Even in early covid when people were dying, plenty of people questioned why they had to be inconvenienced to save other people’s lives and behaved accordingly. Lockdowns were never going to work in this country because we are a narcissistic and selfish society who rarely behave for the greater good of community.

+1 million - one of the most notable things about the COVID response was the almost immediate rise of a faction of loud people that were determined to push back against any measure that would inconvenience them in the slightest.

The measures were dumb. Just delaying the inevitable.

The truth is, we don't really know. There were too many people who ignored measures or implemented them improperly (see people with masks under their noses). And I don't trust a lot of data. See the lady on one of these threads who talks about how they were supposed to have a covid test before getting on a plane and the nurse came, they paid her to just go away, and she didn't do the test. So how many people did that nurse NOT test but report as negative? Repeat that kind of BS all over the country and you get suspect, useless "data".

So when people go on on here about "the data" i almost have to laugh. Except that it's so sad. What decent data do we really have?

And these same people are saying outright they will ignore public health directives next time around because of what they have "learned". Even though they have no idea what could be the cause of the next pandemic and how it will differ from covid.

God help us all.

Measures that the public is unable or unwilling to perform reliably are not effective public health measures. That should be a major lesson from the pandemic response. We spent 18 months keeping kids out of school and telling people to mask while walking on the sidewalk or between the restaurant table and bathroom rather than actually focusing on measures to help those at risk of severe illness.

We are talking about two different kinds of effective. There is effective re: preventing spread of a disease. Masking and some of the measures, had they been implemented widely and properly, could have done that.

You are talking about PR. Find me anything you can get all Americans to do these days. Americans are a bunch of stupid, entitled little sh**s who won't do much of anything if it inconveniences them.

Different things. And Americans' stupidity is not a valid reason not to try when something like a pandemic happens. But it is not encouraging for the future.

Also, plenty of the masking policies and mandates that were in place were not practical, effective, or necessary. Did you have a preschooler in the pandemic ostensibly subjected to all-day masking at age 2? Did you have children with ASD or sensory processing disorders? Did you live in a jurisdiction that required masks on the sidewalk, but not at a restaurant table?

Do you know how many germs there are on the street?!?!!?!??!? /s

This is a perfect example of a poster who is truly stupid. She doesn't know she is stupid, because stupid people think they are the smartest in the world.

Just a heads up that when you see "/s" at the end of a comment, this means the comment was intended as sarcasm.

The more you know.

[Anonymous]

My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Assuming you didn't own a restaurant or a gym or want to go to a park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

Wow. That does seem extreme. DW and I never experienced that when outdoors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

Where was this? I've read about this degree of batsh#t insanity but thankfully dealt with none of it in Western Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly at this point who cares. We did the best we could under a unique and heretofore inexperienced event. This is for scientists to be studying to plan for future pandemics. Getting angry now is ridiculous.

The problem is we weren’t allowed to ask questions and dissenting views were discouraged. Anytime you’re not allowed to ask questions or push back on something you should be concerned. The climate at the time didn’t allow questioning of precautions.

What are you talking about? There were plenty of people who questioned everything and did whatever they wanted anyway. It’s not like the police came and arrested people for expressing dissenting views. Even in early covid when people were dying, plenty of people questioned why they had to be inconvenienced to save other people’s lives and behaved accordingly. Lockdowns were never going to work in this country because we are a narcissistic and selfish society who rarely behave for the greater good of community.

+1 million - one of the most notable things about the COVID response was the almost immediate rise of a faction of loud people that were determined to push back against any measure that would inconvenience them in the slightest.

The measures were dumb. Just delaying the inevitable.

The truth is, we don't really know. There were too many people who ignored measures or implemented them improperly (see people with masks under their noses). And I don't trust a lot of data. See the lady on one of these threads who talks about how they were supposed to have a covid test before getting on a plane and the nurse came, they paid her to just go away, and she didn't do the test. So how many people did that nurse NOT test but report as negative? Repeat that kind of BS all over the country and you get suspect, useless "data".

So when people go on on here about "the data" i almost have to laugh. Except that it's so sad. What decent data do we really have?

And these same people are saying outright they will ignore public health directives next time around because of what they have "learned". Even though they have no idea what could be the cause of the next pandemic and how it will differ from covid.

God help us all.

Measures that the public is unable or unwilling to perform reliably are not effective public health measures. That should be a major lesson from the pandemic response. We spent 18 months keeping kids out of school and telling people to mask while walking on the sidewalk or between the restaurant table and bathroom rather than actually focusing on measures to help those at risk of severe illness.

We are talking about two different kinds of effective. There is effective re: preventing spread of a disease. Masking and some of the measures, had they been implemented widely and properly, could have done that.

You are talking about PR. Find me anything you can get all Americans to do these days. Americans are a bunch of stupid, entitled little sh**s who won't do much of anything if it inconveniences them.

Different things. And Americans' stupidity is not a valid reason not to try when something like a pandemic happens. But it is not encouraging for the future.

Also, plenty of the masking policies and mandates that were in place were not practical, effective, or necessary. Did you have a preschooler in the pandemic ostensibly subjected to all-day masking at age 2? Did you have children with ASD or sensory processing disorders? Did you live in a jurisdiction that required masks on the sidewalk, but not at a restaurant table?

Do you know how many germs there are on the street?!?!!?!??!? /s

This is a perfect example of a poster who is truly stupid. She doesn't know she is stupid, because stupid people think they are the smartest in the world.

So, why clean your house, car, bathroom or kitchen? Your food is not sitting on the street. Shows how stupid you are and you are why Covid spread and continues to. Good thing your housekeeper handles the cleaning and your nanny raises the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

Wow. That does seem extreme. DW and I never experienced that when outdoors.

They are making it up. I still mask. No one has ever said anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Assuming you didn't own a restaurant or a gym or want to go to a park.

They were very brief and restaurants reopened via carryout. Many struggled before and those that did well changed their business model to make it work. Others rightfully shut down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Assuming you didn't own a restaurant or a gym or want to go to a park.

They were very brief and restaurants reopened via carryout. Many struggled before and those that did well changed their business model to make it work. Others rightfully shut down.

You really don't have a clue. The forced change to a carry out model devastated restaurants. You can just retool overnight for something like that. It's not just buy some styrofoam takeout containers and let's go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

Wow. That does seem extreme. DW and I never experienced that when outdoors.

They are making it up. I still mask. No one has ever said anything.

People crossed to the other side of the street when they saw I wasn't masked outside. South county, Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly at this point who cares. We did the best we could under a unique and heretofore inexperienced event. This is for scientists to be studying to plan for future pandemics. Getting angry now is ridiculous.

The problem is we weren’t allowed to ask questions and dissenting views were discouraged. Anytime you’re not allowed to ask questions or push back on something you should be concerned. The climate at the time didn’t allow questioning of precautions.

What are you talking about? There were plenty of people who questioned everything and did whatever they wanted anyway. It’s not like the police came and arrested people for expressing dissenting views. Even in early covid when people were dying, plenty of people questioned why they had to be inconvenienced to save other people’s lives and behaved accordingly. Lockdowns were never going to work in this country because we are a narcissistic and selfish society who rarely behave for the greater good of community.

+1 million - one of the most notable things about the COVID response was the almost immediate rise of a faction of loud people that were determined to push back against any measure that would inconvenience them in the slightest.

The measures were dumb. Just delaying the inevitable.

The truth is, we don't really know. There were too many people who ignored measures or implemented them improperly (see people with masks under their noses). And I don't trust a lot of data. See the lady on one of these threads who talks about how they were supposed to have a covid test before getting on a plane and the nurse came, they paid her to just go away, and she didn't do the test. So how many people did that nurse NOT test but report as negative? Repeat that kind of BS all over the country and you get suspect, useless "data".

So when people go on on here about "the data" i almost have to laugh. Except that it's so sad. What decent data do we really have?

And these same people are saying outright they will ignore public health directives next time around because of what they have "learned". Even though they have no idea what could be the cause of the next pandemic and how it will differ from covid.

God help us all.

Measures that the public is unable or unwilling to perform reliably are not effective public health measures. That should be a major lesson from the pandemic response. We spent 18 months keeping kids out of school and telling people to mask while walking on the sidewalk or between the restaurant table and bathroom rather than actually focusing on measures to help those at risk of severe illness.

We are talking about two different kinds of effective. There is effective re: preventing spread of a disease. Masking and some of the measures, had they been implemented widely and properly, could have done that.

You are talking about PR. Find me anything you can get all Americans to do these days. Americans are a bunch of stupid, entitled little sh**s who won't do much of anything if it inconveniences them.

Different things. And Americans' stupidity is not a valid reason not to try when something like a pandemic happens. But it is not encouraging for the future.

Also, plenty of the masking policies and mandates that were in place were not practical, effective, or necessary. Did you have a preschooler in the pandemic ostensibly subjected to all-day masking at age 2? Did you have children with ASD or sensory processing disorders? Did you live in a jurisdiction that required masks on the sidewalk, but not at a restaurant table?

Do you know how many germs there are on the street?!?!!?!??!? /s

This is a perfect example of a poster who is truly stupid. She doesn't know she is stupid, because stupid people think they are the smartest in the world.

So, why clean your house, car, bathroom or kitchen? Your food is not sitting on the street. Shows how stupid you are and you are why Covid spread and continues to. Good thing your housekeeper handles the cleaning and your nanny raises the kids.

I clean to remove dirt. I don't clean to an operating room level of cleanliness. Not that it would matter if I did. Germs are all around us. Nothing is ever clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My memory of it is that actual general “lockdowns” were brief and related to hospital capacity - we had to do whatever we could to avoid becoming New York.

The part that went on too long, was harmful and didn’t work well was remote schooling and masks for kids.

Agree with this but would add that in my neighborhood, outside masking and social distancing continued for much longer. I remember there being debate on the local list serve when people started unmasking on the sidewalk in spring if 2021 because they were vaccinated. Some people wanted everyone to keep masking outdoors and were upset by it.

In this same neighborhood, both my spouse and I got hassled at various points for not being masked outside even though we were far from other people. My DH once got yelled at out a car window for being unmasked on an otherwise empty sidewalk. Once a woman yelled at me from across the street for being unmasked (no one else was around). Another woman got mad once because I was walking down a wide sidewalk with my 2 yr old who was eating a granola bar, and the woman was angry to pass my toddler unmasked.

I wore a mask to go running for about 8 months because everyone saw that fake meme of a runner spewing Covid particles. I didn't want people to hate me, so I wore a gator while running. Then there was a "study" (debunked but people didn't read the debunking) that said gators actually spread more Covid. So then I had people yelling at me on my runs "gators don't work!" I started running at 5am or 10pm and running in the street so that I would encounter fewer people.

People really lost their minds for a while, and a lot of people who claimed to be following the science were actually following their own anxiety to weird, fascist places and calling it "science."

Where was this? I've read about this degree of batsh#t insanity but thankfully dealt with none of it in Western Fairfax.

This describes the level of insanity in my Bethesda neighborhood.