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Comment by SuoDuanDao | Hacker News Reader

Public acceptance of perpetual lockdowns, or at least at-will lockdowns, probably is the goal. People get more tolerant of authoritarian governments when there's a high prevalence of infectious disease. Governments seeking re-election pushing a narrative that the danger from infectious diseases is high while also being seen to be 'doing something' is likely a self-reinforcing dynamic.

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To be honest, until two weeks ago the official narrative has been that we'll all go back to normal once everyone has taken the vaccine. Unfortunately, the virus has thrown a spanner into the works. This wasn't planned.

Maybe you remember way back at the very beginning that it was "two weeks to slow the spread"?

The narrative has always been we‘ll be back to normal in X weeks if we are all good little boys and girls and do what we‘re told. Unless of course some other really good reason to lockdown arises, like that single case in NZ.

By single case I assume you're referring the outbreak that has spread to 100+ cases in the last week (from transmission before the lockdown and associated households). If you use a country as an example, then please represent the situation there accurately.

"New Zealand To Begin a Three-Day Lockdown after a Single Case is Reported." Headline from The New York Times 5 days ago.

I'm willing to believe this is fake news from the NYT, or that the situation has changed, but others are reporting it as well.

Covid is like roaches, there's never just one. One case turns up, but meanwhile that individual infected dozens others who are not symptomatic yet. But with a lockdown the contagion spreads less quickly, and you can do contact tracing and isolate the affected people. Indeed, the headline from two days ago is "Delta outbreak spreading rapidly as cases jump"

Meanwhile at my regional institution the students are beginning to grumble. Let's go back online, they say, too many instructors cancel lecture because they are sick with covid and too many students can't attend class because they in bed with covid. That's what excess freedom looks like.

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