"We've been doing that for almost a year and a half" - have we? A lot of jurisdictions have done lockdown light, if anything. A few fitful weeks of half-measures, then declare that "lockdowns don't work" seems like the most common measure.

Right now we're suffering from the fact that the measures in Australia had stupid holes in them - we could be delta-free if the geniuses behind our quarantine policy hadn't had unmasked, unvaccinated limo drivers driving around air crew from other countries.