There's no delusion around lifting restrictions and mandates. Those were always unsustainable and can't be maintained indefinitely regardless of risks.
What was delusional was the unscientific belief that the virus could be eradicated, or that some people could be protected from infection. The reality is that the virus is going to run its course no matter what we do and everyone will be exposed. Fortunately the vaccines and other treatments are pretty effective at preventing deaths.
Unless there is going to be a government mandate for vaccination (like there was with polio I believe) then there is really only determining when the next phase happens. I think w/o a mandate the next phase is "manageable disease".
If you're in a country with vaccines widely available, there should be statistical models used to determine when to lift mandates. Adult humans have made choices already if they are going to get it or not. If x% of a population is vaccinated and hospitals are not over capacity with cases then this becomes a manageable disease, right? There should be some known rates of surges and how to predict case counts of people that need hospital level services.
It would be nice to see a societal culture shift to wearing masks when someone has a respiratory illness to minimize spread, no matter if it is cold/flu/whatever. I believe this is more common in Japan and other countries in that part of the world.
We've been living with COVID for 2 years now, have we not? What we're talking about "giving up" is the notion that society-wide, one size fits all mitigations provide more benefit than they cost.
What was delusional was the unscientific belief that the virus could be eradicated, or that some people could be protected from infection. The reality is that the virus is going to run its course no matter what we do and everyone will be exposed. Fortunately the vaccines and other treatments are pretty effective at preventing deaths.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/vinay-prasad/94646