[Goose]

The best way to have dealt with this virus is to do so early and decisively.  Then you drive the virus levels so low that you can deal with small outbreaks with precision and allow the economy to otherwise reopen with minimal restrictions.



Instead, after a promising start in the spring, we tried to have it halfway, and in so doing wound up with both half-assed restrictions that many people are ignoring and a lots of COVID-19.  Sad.



BC

Ideally, yes, that would work. It is also true that we tried to have it halfway, which basically doomed the effort. However, given that we didn't have and needed to develop the ability to track and trace small outbreaks it would have at best been June before we could have done it in SCC and even longer elsewhere. On top of that, since many (about 50% locally) people refuse to cooperate by isolating/quarantining when necessary and reporting their contacts honestly (or at all), it is difficult to believe that approach had any possibility of working.
It is also true that in Europe who was better prepared to do the tracking and tracing has had things blow up on them. They also had a more compliant population and access to significantly greater enforcement. Still blew up. The "dance" has not been successfully executed in the West anywhere.

[Goose]

The best way to have dealt with this virus is to do so early and decisively.  Then you drive the virus levels so low that you can deal with small outbreaks with precision and allow the economy to otherwise reopen with minimal restrictions.



Instead, after a promising start in the spring, we tried to have it halfway, and in so doing wound up with both half-assed restrictions that many people are ignoring and a lots of COVID-19.  Sad.



BC

Ideally, yes, that would work. It is also true that we tried to have it halfway, which basically doomed the effort. However, given that we didn't have and needed to develop the ability to track and trace small outbreaks it would have at best been June before we could have done it in SCC and even longer elsewhere. On top of that, since many (about 50% locally) people refuse to cooperate by isolating/quarantining when necessary and reporting their contacts honestly (or at all), it is difficult to believe that approach had any possibility of working.
It is also true that in Europe who was better prepared to do the tracking and tracing has had things blow up on them. They also had a more compliant population and access to significantly greater enforcement. Still blew up. The "dance" has not been successfully executed in the West anywhere.