We haven't behaved with this level of safety in something like 100 years in this country because the common cold, much like its name would indicate, isn't a killer. We have never masked up or social distanced for these annual flus either, and even with the complete lack of safety measures, those flus also kill magnitudes less people because they aren't as deadly. COVID is killing at a rate around 100 times more than the seasonal flu when adjusted for the safety measures being taken right now. You can believe what you like, but these things aren't equal. It is comparing my elementary school baseball team to the LA Dodgers because they both play baseball.