Lockdowns, isolation and quarantines have long been valid tools for fighting epidemics, even before we had a germ theory of infectious disease. If nothing else, it buys us time so we can limit casualties and deploy diagnostic, hygienic and therapeutic procedures to fight it.

No, this is all on Trump, as RL has pointed out. He simply couldn't bring himself to admit to his followers that he was wrong. Its now mostly on his followers (who by now all know perfectly well how wrong he was) but had too much invested in his economic and political ideology to risk losing it all in the next election.

Thousands of Americans will die so this pompous blowhard can make himself look good and so his drooling trailer trash followers can "stick it to the Libs".