All planned.

It makes the people beholden to dems because it'll look like they heroically ended the evil lockdowns cause let's be honest -- first, normies' memory doesn't go so far as to remember who did the lockdowns; and second, and this is probably the most important part we've been battered with this tyranny for so long that people are willing to concede to socialism and a Xiao Bideng administration if it means opening up (for now). It's a shitty plea deal where we still get screwed.