Initial constraints like ICU bed shortages and gear scarcity definitely had a basis. But those measure lasted long after the bottlenecks got resolved and the risk assessment became clearer. For example, public schools stayed remote while virtually every private school switched to in-person (even California's governor opted for private in-person schooling for their kids).
The public's frustration is that these prolonged, seemingly arbitrary measures outlasted their initial justification.
ICU capacity was a bottleneck that never got resolved. In the US there was never a nationwide effort to mobilize ICU resources to target hot spots other than an initial aborted attempt to gather respirators for the surge in NYC and send a military floating hospital.
Regional programs were put into place to shift patients during a local surge and to mobilize hallways and other non-traditional capacity. In California once capacity dropped below 10% health orders went into effect.
At the beginning of 2023 and well after widespread vaccination the California statewide capacity was at 24% availability with 7% of beds being taken by Covid patients.
The hospital ship was never intended to take covid patients. The idea was the ship would take non-covid cases leaving ICU capacity in hospitals. It turns out that military hospital ships aren’t great for the general population given bulkheads and the general layout of ships.
In Chicago we also spent millions of dollars building extra temporary capacity. It only got something like 38 patients and was quietly dismantled after one month.
Deaths peaked in 2021 but hospitalizations peaked in 2022. Hospitals were at higher capacity in 2022 but treatment protocols had improved reducing mortality rates. Deaths caught the headlines so people missed the surge.
I wonder if suddenly going from masks and sanitizing constantly to immediately stopping (at least in my country) may have contributed to the sudden jump. Also we were encouraged not to visit the hospital unless it was necessary so many opted not to for almost 3 years.
The public's frustration is that these prolonged, seemingly arbitrary measures outlasted their initial justification.