Yes, Covid was/is real, the early incarnations particularly, but almost every person I know young old underlying etc all likened omicron to at worst a very bad dose of flu.
and were all the restrictions and controls, (particularly freedom of movement for people to return to their own country) imposed legitimate ?? I would say no but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I doubt anything was done maliciously but modern day risk control (ass covering) and media hysteria were my 2 biggest gripes.