But what future is there with a zero case goal if we don’t get a vaccine? Or even a vaccine that’s only as effective as say the flu vaccine? Covid isn’t going anywhere. It’s here. If you succeed at getting 0 cases, you can never allow international travel or if will be right back. It doesn’t make logical sense to me.
I've been travelling more recently and I can say that I am really pleased with how Germany handled things. Life has to continue. It's fully unrealistic to keep borders closed and people confined. Perhaps it is our collective history, but travel bans to prohibit movement of people within, and outside of, their country are even worse than what occurred during the DDR. (At least then 'behaved' people could travel to other eastern bloc countries or even get a cabin on the Love Boat cruise to nowhere)
I wasn't going to say much, but the restrictions listed earlier actually really upset me. I mentioned earlier the impact on people who are not confined with a partner, or family, and the difference that can make. The 'solution' to allow contact with one person, or their partner, isn't a solution. Not everyone has a regular partner; people do have casual sex, and the ridiculous expectations to use 'a wall', or better to continue to only self pleasure, are only making people more frustrated.
Imagine you are someone who does not have a partner, and is used to engaging and does have sex with more than one partner. It's a totally common and normal thing, and now the message is not to do so, or outright preventing that from happening because state or provincial borders are closed too. No wonder people are getting fed up. First we were told 'flatten the curve'. We did. Then the message was that a vaccine would not come in 2020 as we were told, but maybe next year or even some messages saying 2-3 years. Then the goal shifted to 0 cases.
For some of you, your lives didn't change much, and maybe you cannot see that this is having significant impact on many people because they happen to live differently than you do. (And some of you said months ago that your life didn't change much, but you have the empathy and understanding and have expressed that)
For many of us, our lives have been changed so significantly. Today I said 'two weeks' to a Lufthansa staffer. She said 'pardon me?' and I reminded her that when she shooed me out of the last lounge to close in March, she said 'see you in two weeks' and I said to her 'maybe three'. Well, that 2-3 weeks is now being messaged as 2-3 years, and the reality is that without some end goal, it becomes difficult to continue to support such measures.
Having said all that, in Germany we've somewhat moved on and are back on the environment; I'm pleased to say that I attended a rally to save the rain forest today hosted by teenagers. Other than masks in shops and on transit, things are as 'normal 'as they can be. The lack of tourists for Oktoberfest is of course a huge economic blow however (although there are as always many Italian tourists, and even I think some Canadians, but they cannot make up for the crowds of Americans and Middle Eastern tourists who spend so significantly)