It is endemic, but we're comparing two unknowns:
- Cost of lock-downs each time there's an outbreak
- Cost of outbreaks
I hope the zero COVID policies evolve over time to where they can maintain zero COVID without the draconian policies. I suspect universal N95 masks might be enough.
We have no idea the damage that constant mask-wearing could do. This would be a very dangerous experiment, that interferes with basic the human functionality that we are adapted to.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-lan...
Pshaw. Many people wear masks constantly. I wear a mask for days at a time when I’m woodworking. Sculptors wear masks while creating their art. Surgeons wear masks for ages during complex operations. My dentist wears his mask all day every day. The guy who paints your house will wear a mask all day. It is simply ridiculous to suggest that we don’t know what mask-wearing will do.
And none of these tell us the population-wide effects of switching to mask-wearing, even for the limited scope that the people in occupations you mention wear masks, would be benign. For example, there is indication that emotional connections between doctors and patients are disrupted by masks:
Masking in flareups and vaccines and remote work where reasonable is the clear answer. Zero covid is impossible.
You're making a number of assumptions, most which I think are utterly bogus
* Chinese numbers are genuine. They're not. They're probably not as bad as the US, but it's very difficult to tell. China does not release statistics necessary to validate their claims. They don't release, for example, excess death rates.
* China's policy here is going to work. It won't. It's an endemic disease now. This is going to happen all the time. Are they going to lockdown every time? What's the value of this?
* The economic fallout won't cause even greater harm. They're shutting down everything. They're already on the precipice of a real estate collapse.