Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

But it's not just our unhealthy lifestyle. Sweden remains an outlier in how it's handled the virus, but other healthier, denser places like Germany, Japan, and South Korea have handled the virus relatively well compared to the U.S. because of their leadership. South Korea's rigorous contact tracing is responsible for helping isolate exposed individuals. Germany has also had a methodical, yet aggressive approach that has fared much better than the U.S.' approach.

There is no question that our overall health has compounded the issue here in the U.S., just as the older populations of Italy and Spain suffered early on.

But we've also had resources held back by the federal government, had confusing and contradictory messaging from administration officials, have had data hidden or outright scrubbed, have struggled to issue PPE to those in need, and haven't had anything resembling a nationwide plan, leaving it to the states to figure things out themselves.

Yes, we're a nation of fat people and therefore more susceptible to the virus. But Trump's lack of response made us even more vulnerable.

 

It’s mostly just lack of centralized leadership. It’s been clear since June that every single area of the US is going to get their own outbreak eventually.

Obesity is a real factor but it tends to be overstated. I’ve seen estimates that it increases your risk of severe complications or death by anywhere from 20-100%, but that’s barely anything compared to age.

A fat 25 year old might be 2x as likely to die as a skinny 25 year old, but a 75-year old is 220x as likely.

 

We're also a spread-out country. Larger nations have a tougher time with all that testing-contact tracing stuff than the compact places. None of the "they did it RIGHT" group of nations is more than 5 percent as large as the US.

Sprawling Countries Find Coronavirus Hard to Contain

 

Leadership.

 

Remember, everything is fine and we need to have kids back in schools full-time even if it means staff members die or suffer horrible effects.

 

Did they catch it at school or did they get it elsewhere and then tested because of their job?

 

Story gives different accounts of whether "social distancing" protocols wete followed. Not one word about masks.

Are they bleeping mandatory or not?

 

Yeah some of them caught it elsewhere. That's how communities that don't have it suddenly have it. It doesn't magically appear. The problem is people caught it elsewhere then exposed other staffers. And even if we stipulate none of them caught it at the schools (I'll give you better odds of the Browns winning the Super Bowl than no one catching it at the schools), they still need to shut down because people are exposed. Either way, schools are affected.

 

Four states report record number of new COVID-19 cases

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Utah all hit records for single-day increases in the number of COVID-19 infections Friday.

 

Catch and release

 

That's a reason I always thought U.S. rates vs. the entirety of Europe, and not individual European countries, was a better comparison. Europe has twice as many people as a whole, but there are a lot of similarities in the number of countries/states (47 countries vs. 50 states), total size, travel and trade patterns, each country/state taking its own approach to the virus, some getting hit earlier and worse than others, different reporting methods, different geography and climates, etc.
As a whole, Europe has had about half as many cases (3.1 million vs. 7.1 million) but a comparable number of deaths (188,610 vs. 204,000). Like the U.S., there are some places that have not had many cases at all, and there are a handful that account for a large percentage of the total. Germany has done better than Spain and Italy, just like Virginia has fared better than New York, and Wyoming and Liechtenstein both have said, "What virus?"