When they shut down all the small businesses and just left the big box stores open, they ended up concentrating all the shoppers together in a few big centralized locations, turning them into daily super-spreader events.

Now they're imposing curfews, as if that will somehow limit people's exposure to each other by keeping them at home more I guess?

Well here's the thing: Bars and restaurants are already closed. The only thing people are going out at night for is logistical activities like shopping - things they have to do every day regardless of curfews.

So all a curfew will accomplish is to shorten the available hours people have to carry out those logistical activities (like shopping), which will concentrate everyone into the stores during the remaining hours, which will increase social contact/exposure, not reduce it.

So like the small business shutdowns, this measure can only make things worse.

I don't believe for one second that there's any modeling that pointed to this being a good idea, because it defies logic on the face of it. At this point it's painfully obvious that governments are just taking drastic actions so they can be seen to be "doing something". And worse, there's no exit strategy. Nothing they're doing is working. None of these measures will bring an end to the pandemic (indeed they'll only make it worse), so where's the light at the end of the tunnel here? Is there one? Or is this the "new normal"?

Oh and they still don't know if the vaccines work on the new strains yet BTW.

When they shut down all the small businesses and just left the big box stores open, they ended up concentrating all the shoppers together in a few big centralized locations, turning them into daily super-spreader events.

Now they're imposing curfews, as if that will somehow limit people's exposure to each other by keeping them at home more I guess?

Well here's the thing: Bars and restaurants are already closed. The only thing people are going out at night for is logistical activities like shopping.

So all a curfew will accomplish is to shorten the available hours people have to carry out those logistical activities (like shopping), which will concentrate everyone into the stores during the remaining hours, which will increase social contact/exposure, not reduce it.

So like the small business shutdowns, this measure can only make things worse.

I don't believe for one second that there's any modeling that pointed to this being a good idea, because it defies logic on the face of it. At this point it's painfully obvious that governments are just taking drastic actions so they can be seen to be "doing something". And worse, there's no exit strategy. Nothing they're doing is working. None of these measures will bring an end to the pandemic (indeed they'll only make it worse), so where's the light at the end of the tunnel here? Is there one? Or is this the "new normal"?

Oh and they still don't know if the vaccines work on the new strains yet BTW.