Things got busy so I haven’t been active for a while. I’m sorry waiting for my reply kept you up at night long enough that you were compelled to make a follow-up response /s

I doubt you smashed my post though. I’m not on Lemmy to ‘score points’ either. I want to advise, learn and be educated on topics that interest me. Others seemed to disagree with you so I’m not holding my breath lol, though in a well reasoned argument, there are always good points made on both sides and I’d be interested to get back to you on that.

I’m sure there is a strong correlation between social distancing and incidence rates of COVID. New Zealand did well to demonstrate that, despite a smaller population. I don’t believe it caused the virus to evolve. I do believe it caused the virus to devolve though; the virus kept mutating, but the most virulent stains coincided with the toughest social distancing measures. Nowadays the strain of COVID affects only the most vulnerable, and to most, its symptoms are akin to a cold, and therefore social distancing measures aren’t necessary.