Pretty frightening to see people still after 2 years refer COVID as "just another cold"!!! COVID causes far more systemic inflammation than many other viruses, which is why we debate whether hospitalized COVID patients should receive treatment doses of anticoagulation to minimize the microvascular damages caused by the excessive inflammation, and why some young patients get the multi-inflammatory syndrome from COVID and also likely a contributor to this still rather mysterious "long COVID syndrome" that scientist and medical professionals are only scratching at the surface to understand, never mind treat and/or prevent. For sure newer variants are causing less hospitalizations and ICU admissions, but if you have a large enough population infected, by shear numbers there will be a large enough subgroup of them needing hospitalizations and ICU admissions that prevent others who need it from getting that level of care. There is no equivalent in the degree of inflammation seen in some COVID patients in the common cold. So please stop equating them!!!
And please remember, there is no rule that guarantees the virus will not mutate to a MORE virulent strain and stay that way....like Ebola! What we can do, however, is to provide less chances or the virus to mutate, which is achieved with less infections overall. It is the laws of nature, and no amount of ignorance, screaming about personal freedom, or wishful thinking will change that.
And while we certainly can't lockdown or close restaurants etc forever, we most definitely can put a mask on when indoors in crowded places, and be careful about our interactions to minimize risks. We will NOT return to "normal" or "preCOVID", at least not for a while. We are moving to a "new normal", and that just may involve wearing a mask more often than before.