> some countries that didn't do very much (e.g. Japan)
Japan had a strong preexisting culture of wearing a mask when going out in public if you're the slightest bit sick.
> countries that locked down (e.g. EU countries and the United States).
The early EU countries (Italy, France, Spain) and the US didn't lock down until far too late when their local epidemics had already spiraled out of control.
The US in particular locked down far too late, too little, and has now re-opened despite still having a huge number of active cases and community transmission. On top of that, it sounds like a large number of people there are still refusing to wear masks.
> Why is it that [...] nations in southeast Asia have negligible deaths
I'm less sure here but I'd guess it's a combination of age demographics (fewer very old people who are most likely to die of the virus), lack of testing/reporting, and higher overall death rates due to disease which masks the effect somewhat.
yeah, i think the cultural aspect can not be ignored!
The stereotypes of some cultures being more cold and wanting to keep their distances is grounded in reality. In e.g. france or italy having very close contact for example when greeting is the norm. I can imagine that it helps to spread the virus.
Good point about greetings. Places where people get all over each others' faces to say hello have had a worse time of it than places where people bow politely from a distance.
Japan had a strong preexisting culture of wearing a mask when going out in public if you're the slightest bit sick.
> countries that locked down (e.g. EU countries and the United States).
The early EU countries (Italy, France, Spain) and the US didn't lock down until far too late when their local epidemics had already spiraled out of control.
The US in particular locked down far too late, too little, and has now re-opened despite still having a huge number of active cases and community transmission. On top of that, it sounds like a large number of people there are still refusing to wear masks.
> Why is it that [...] nations in southeast Asia have negligible deaths
I'm less sure here but I'd guess it's a combination of age demographics (fewer very old people who are most likely to die of the virus), lack of testing/reporting, and higher overall death rates due to disease which masks the effect somewhat.