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It seems like media around the world is really preoccupied with the USA and the mess we have over here with COVID. At the same time, your situation sounds like an actual nightmare to me (also being an introverted person), and the accounts of others in Europe and Russia sound even worse. Whereas we in the USA were, relatively speaking, having a great time in 2020, travelling all around the country (flying is so much better - cheap tickets on short notice and no middle seats), enjoying the mountains and parks; most of the year, dining in restaurants, going to gyms, etc. The only thing I do miss are board-game meetups, well and travelling to Russia to see family (and I guess now that we have a re-entry test requirement, I'll also miss other international travel, there are enough sensible countries to have made it possible before that). In proportion to the risk, I am taking 10-20x of the precautions I take with flu before I get a shot... instead of almost none, barely any :)

I am happy you are doing well with the situation but do wish you guys luck in sorting the lockdown mess ;)



Europe had a few months of relaxed restrictions in the summer. The lockdown period was in the spring and resumed around November.


The lockdowns in the USA were generally lighter/shorter in most states; I am pretty sure in some states indoor dining never stopped. In all the states that I'm aware of, the enforcement was non-existent for individuals. For example, you could drive to a state park 50 miles away from home that you were supposed to stay-at, that was officially completely closed, and there'd be 100 cars parked along the road next to a closed trailhead.

I was assuming the enforcement/lockdowns are like that because they wouldn't stand in court, but then did a little bit of research and found out general-purpose freedom of movement in public spaces does not actually appear to be a well-codified (or often argued in court?) right in the USA, so I guess it's just the culture of liberty, and the politicians being afraid of the reaction if there was enforcement. It made me very proud and happy to be an American by choice ;)


This paragraph is a very good example for outsiders of how half of America got us where we are today.


Where, exactly, are we today? With per-capita deaths in the ballpark (or lower) than developed countries with more strict, and far better enforced, lockdowns, and at times severe travel restrictions (UK, Italy, Spain, France) [1][2]? Where states with no or fewer restrictions, like Texas or Florida, are doing barely worse (or better) than states with draconian restrictions, like California? [3] With one of the highest vaccination rates reported among large developed countries? [4]

I forgot to mention another good thing about 2020, I really feel good when I do something that annoys holier-than-thou busybodies; living in a liberal city it is typically hard to do, but 2020 was a great year for that activity :D

[1] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#global-counts-rate... [2] https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality [3] https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#compare-trends_new... [4] https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations




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