I was actually taking that generous interpretation - that you might mean 21 days since that's what HK demanded for example. But my point is that nature doesn't work that way as far as I know. There is no 100% point, just increased 9s on the end of 99.9. Scientists have identified 34 days as what seems like the upper end now, but that doesn't mean we'll never see a case of an infection showing up only after a longer period.

Meanwhile if 10,000 people enter the country, 1 makes in to the community and incubates on the 34th day, and things aren't detected immediately with amazing contact tracing it can turn into 1000 cases in no time.

All at the incredible cost of already having put 9,999 unnecessarily through a ridiculously long 34 days quarantine.

So there is a certain impracticality in this type of thinking, since a human lives for only so long. A human has only so many years of his life with which to develop his career and save for his old age. A lot of 0 covid policy countries are seriously going to spiral into territory where the sacrifice of individual human lives by "portion" is no longer insubstantial if we don't see some 180 degree reversals (perhaps by violent revolt). Like if NZ and AZ carry on for 5 years like I expect them to.