Maybe the ONLY thing they were trying to is to flatten the curve and not to actually keep people from getting sick ever - jsut spread the disease over a longer time.

In my mind we were distancing until there's a vaccine for it - or at least a treatment that helps people avoid getting seriously ill.

But maybe it was only about flattening the curve so as not to overwhelm the hospitals?

Since the hospitals were not overwhelmed AND since they have added more capacity maybe they figure they could increase the number of cases now?