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How did we go from “flatten the COVID-19 curve†to “shut up and wear the mask—or else†in just a few short months? Back in March, we were told that lockdowns were necessary to ensure COVID-19 cases would not overwhelm hospitals and, in particular, intensive-care units. In most parts of the country, hospitals were not only not overwhelmed, many were forced to lay off nurses and other employees because elective procedures were put on hold — a move that likely cost lives as people postponed health critical screenings and avoided going to the hospital when they had chest pains for fear of catching COVID-19.Before we go any further, please hear what I am not saying. I’m not denying COVID-19 is a serious and sometimes deadly illness. It is, and many families are grieving the loss of loved ones who’ve died of it. And many families are grieving the loss of loved ones from the flu, from auto accidents, and from cancer. Death catches up to all of us eventually.I’m also not denying that masks can slow down the spread of disease. They can.But at the beginning of the pandemic, we were assured that once hospitals had things under control we could go back to our regularly scheduled lives, with the understanding that as things reopened and testing increased there would be a spike in the number of cases. Now it seems the goalposts are moving again and we’re being sent into further lockdown —in some cases more stringent lockdowns than before — by governors and other mini-tyrants who are in panic mode because people are catching a contagious (but not very deadly for most people) disease that is, you know, contagious.