The only way out for you blokes is to reach a critical mass of disobedience so that they change the law to save face, pretend it was always their idea.

That is what has happened in California, too many people stopped listening, even though many did (and still do). They were forced to "allow" limited seating inside restaurants and lift other restrictions because they couldn't enforce their rules on such a large scale of disobedience, especially when only a fraction of law enforcement was cooperative.