Yeah, the common cold statement is just wrong. Also COVID is actually more deadly than the flu by about 3x from what I have read when it adjusts for all the relevant factors. The problem I have with the whole thing is that the media and government whipped everyone up into a panic over it. If you said to people, "there's a virus 3x as bad as the flu, what should we do?" I thik very few would say "lockdown everything non-essential."
So? Few people think things through systematically. Most countries would have desperately struggled to accommodate the increased demand on ICUs and skilled staff care. In fact, despite lockdowns and the provision of Nightingale facilities in the UK, the NHS was often overwhelmed as infections periodically peaked. We're still suffering the ongoing effects of urgent care that could not be provided in a timely fashion as resources got diverted due to Covid. See e.g. https://www.bmj.com/content/385/bmj-2023-075613
I shudder to think what would happen if we hadn't locked down.
