It's been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, where are we at now?

The first lockdowns came in place in March last year. Where are we at now? <br><br>Here's my take:<br><br>I think we did a lot of things wrong over the last year, and am disappointed that we didn't learn from East Asian countries (China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan) that were ahead of us and figured it out earlier. <br><br>1. Masks: At the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC and WHO were against masks, then for them, and now against them again. East Asian countries enforced them nationwide a year ago and now many of them have basically returned to a normal state, with no lockdowns while the rest of the world is in chaos. In my country, masks are still not enforced outside of public transport and shops. <br><br>2. Lockdowns: East Asian countries did a nationwide lockdown for just one month, after which they were able to keep the virus under control with contact-tracing, testing and quarantine measures, and never had to implement a lockdown again. Many countries in Europe and NA are on their third lockdown. <br><br>3. Quarantine: In many East Asian countries, if you come from another country, you are placed in an institution and forced to quarantine for two weeks. In many countries in Europe and NA, you are allowed to go home and quarantine yourself but there's no real enforcement. Many people break this rule. <br><br>4. Testing and tracing: We knew testing and tracing was the key to getting the virus under control, but where are we at with this? It's been over a year since the pandemic began and governments knew this was the key, and we still don't have an app and widespread testing to trace and test contacts. Many East Asian countries had their apps out in February. <br><br>The virus mutates fast, which means the vaccine might not even work in a few months, and the pandemic will just drag on and on.<br><br>What's your take on this?