The zero COVID delusion

This is the flip-side of the delusion that we can control our way to zero COVID: the specter of the noncompliant villain who’s keeping us from getting there. Those who dissent, who express skepticism, who want to question the rules instead of simply following them? They’re not just asking questions; they are ‘literally killing’ people.

This type of rhetoric may have been a morale-booster amid lockdowns, mask mandates, and the COVID death count banners that have become part of the permanent landscape on every mainstream cable news channel. But it’s hard to overstate how unwise it is to inject blame into the conversation about an airborne virus. The pandemic has already decimated our ability to assess and tolerate risk, as our public health authorities keep offering mixed messages on everything from masking to school openings to the effectiveness of the vaccine. But comments like Fauci’s do something worse, injecting a toxic, corrosive element into the heart of the social contract. A society in which people fear and mistrust each other is a society that cannot function. This is what we risk.