In the beginning we were trying to compare apples to oranges (i.e., the US to Italy, etc.). Part of the problem is you can't prove a negative; we'll never know for better or worse what would have happened without 'flattening the curve,' social distancing, masking, etc. But it did not take long to see what the most impacted demographic was, and instead of trying to affect the most vulnerable population, the government made everything miserable for everyone to the detriment of everyone.
What makes me madder than hell, even when they/we knew it wasn't going to be the mighty death knell, they still imposed oppressive restrictions, crippling the economy. You are spot on with the italicized/bolded. I do not think they can. They continue down paths in spite of sound science (
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...0WN8bGiC8ZoqJI), (
https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-l...hs7xmwJgrOf_1U)