zlacker

One of the authors tweeted this:

"The rest of the world has accepted the endemic nature of Covid and moved on, but the U.S. is an int'l outlier, still pushing mass testing & chasing down every case." [0]

I'm not sure what inverse universe he lives in given that we barely do any official testing, and contact tracing never even got off the ground.

His retweets are also all the other well known covid-minimizers - including the infamous Jay Bhattacharya.

[0] https://twitter.com/MartyMakary/status/1546533258187390977

>>kindat+(OP)
Yeah, it's also a fabrication, unless "by the world" he means to exclude China.

>>KerrAv+p
And Japan

>>kindat+(OP)
Shit, most cities in the US stopped seriously doing comprehensive contact tracing around the time NY threw in the towel, back in late Spring or early Summer 2020 IIRC. Yes, within months of it reaching our shores.

"Pushing mass testing" LOL in what universe? I guess they shipped out a second wave of those mediocre home tests recently but not that many of them and only if you asked. Otherwise you just go get tested at a doctor's office or urgent care if you start to feel terrible, if you want to, just like with the flu, so you know exactly how careful you and others in your household need to be about hanging out around old folks. In fact, one of the ones we recently did was a combo test for both Covid and flu.

Anything beyond that's coming from employers, not the government, and most of them aren't doing much anymore and haven't been for a while.

>>Aeolun+p1
And large parts of Europe, at least judging by the travel restrictions on their websites.

>>kindat+(OP)
All the state have moved on but the Federal government guidance is still stuck in the past.

>>amluto+u2
New Zealand as well for the list. I think we can be fairly certain the author is full of shit

>>tick_t+93
What is the federal government enforcing? Don't even need to be tested before flying into the US anymore.

>>fma+o3
The post you’re replying to says “guidance”, not regulations or enforcement.

>>Aeolun+p1
Japan has effectively zero COVID restrictions.

>>ch4s3+L3
But guidance is an incredibly weak standard. The CDC for example recommend you only eat steaks cooked to a temperature that works out to medium done or higher. I suspect I'm not even sure the guidance on the state level is actually different. I suspect just less reported on

>>space_+I4
That’s exactly the critique. The CDC makes blanket recommendations that aren’t based in science and assume you dear citizen are incapable of grappling with nuanced advice.

>>donw+Z3
The border being closed is quite a large one, but Japan has done better domestically than almost anyone else with very consistent advice since the start, which is admirable.

>>corrra+Q1
I guess this is anecdotal, but counterexample. I had COVID twice. The first time there was extensive contact tracing performed by the county. The second time, there was basically nothing. Contact tracing in my area stopped when Omicron took over.

>>amluto+u2
Which parts are those exactly? Even the strictest countries like Germany no longer have any entry restrictions.

>>kindat+(OP)
If there are covid minimizers, are there covid maximizers?

>>darker+0f
Both you and the commenter you're responding to are making the point that contact tracing now seems not to be actively pursued. Both accounts contradict the article. To that extent, you seem to be in agreement.

>>Natura+Xl
100% yes.

>>kindat+(OP)
A kid in my 3yo son's preschool class tested positive today, and they are asking that all kids test twice (with a few days in between) and wear masks at all times while at school for the next 6 days. I'm in SF

My intuition is that people underestimate the impact of forcing kids and toddlers to wear masks.

What I observe is that for folks without kids, life has gotten back to normal, but somehow everything related to kids is still over cautious.

>>Natura+Xl
I know a guy who hasn't gone inside of a restaurant in the last two and a half years. I'm literally laying in bed sick with covid and my mouth tastes like the anti-nailbiting bittering nail polish because of the Paxlovid right now, and I still think that's too cautious.

>>Natura+Xl
Oh yes, very loud ones too who have magically obtained PhDs in biology, virology and immunology all in the past 2 years. It’s amazing!

>>amluto+u2
Not sure about entry restrictions but there aren't any serious "behavioral" restrictions in Europe at the moment, despite most countries being through a BA.5 wave. Vaccine, testing and mask mandates have mostly been lifted.

Here in Italy there's still a mask mandate on public transport, which is not uniformly enforced even, but that's it.

>>KerrAv+p
Taiwan would like a word.

Other countries with excellent control: New Zealand, Iceland, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.