Are they all daft? How does that make sense? R~=1 can have a low amplitude or a high amplitude. The goal should be to make the slope go down at least until contact tracing can be achieved. We have states in the US where R~=1 still means test shortages.

Most countries' health authorities don't believe that any achievable level of infection can be controlled through contact tracing alone, so they're aiming to find an acceptable equilibrium for the next year or two until a vaccine can be widely deployed.