I'm not him but honestly, it already was very ugly in the city. They may well actually have 43% herd immunity which is what experts think is enough. The hay was already out of the barn there.
Better place to point at is California...praised for locking down very early but has loosened and has seemingly started to get crushed with cases even though they're still stricter than others (and for some reason, it's not talked about enough). They may end up being your 2nd Italy example in the US (the first being NYC) and if they go that way, it honestly shows that flatten the curve can mean postpone the inevitable instead. At least in our culture with the stubbornness we see (the masks may not be a political deal with some lol).
Is locking down until there is a vaccine a good idea given that the quickest vaccine until maybe soon was 4 years? I don't think so. If you were to have to live like recently for a year plus, a lot would never be the same ever again.
That means we should've been doing what Rain Cold suggested and it would've helped if China didn't try covering up first...whoops.