Why is covid seemingly no longer a problem outside the US?

You can’t run and hide forever. It will eventually catch up with you. It’s not going away. You can’t beat it. It is inevitable. Even the places that “listened to the experts” and “did it right” from the beginning are finally starting to figure what most of us realized from the start.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8580179/Vietnam-records-Covid-19-death-biggest-rise-new-cases-100-days-without-infection.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN24V030

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.economist.com/asia/2020/08/01/a-second-covid-19-wave-is-worrying-australia-japan-and-hong-kong

No one's fully answered the original question. As many people have pointed out, covid is still a problem outside the US. The reason why it seems like it's only a problem in the US is because of the media narrative that wants to portray Trump as uniquely incompetent (he is incompetent, but not uniquely so) and Trump supporters and conservatives more generally as uniquely stupid/stubborn/anti-science/whatever (some conservatives are those things but not all of them, and the United States does not have a monopoly on stupid/stubborn/anti-science/selfish/whatever people).

You talk as if "science" is a Tablet Of Unquestionable Truth handed down by white-coated "authorities" without being compromised at every stage of funding, research and development by monied and political interests. Academia decided in the 1970s to politicize all aspects of research and education to suit an agenda of globalism and government authority over private lives and interests. I know because I was involved in research in the 70s and 80s. The well has truly been poisoned, and people are right to be skeptical, especially in an election year where the mainstream media has become a fear-mongering hype machine.

"Science" as practiced today is the equivalent of the clergy in Medieval times.

Precious Roy wrote:

In most every other country, pandemic response is directed from the national government. In the US, the Trump administration punted the response to the states. That allowed southern states to reopen when it was obvious that it would result in a huge outbreak. And it also allowed those same states to let the outbreaks surge out of control instead of locking down to quickly bring down infection rates.

Also, in the US, the virus has been a political issue from day one. With the exception of Brazil, in the rest of the world, there are no political leaders who are trying to make the virus a right v left issue. Germany, Australia, Hungary, Poland, etc. have moderate to very hard right governments, but the governments have trusted the scientists and public health experts instead of having their top trade advisor opine on hydroxychloroquine.

Amen...bro

Expect the unexpected wrote:

Armstronglivs wrote:

The virus spreads because of contact where there is less social distancing, wearing of masks etc. Covid doesn't distinguish between races, ethnicities, cultures, genders and ages - all can become infected. Through leadership and good management countries like New Zealand have eliminated the virus (no community transmission). The US hasn't because it has lacked leadership.

Why would you lie? NZ has not eliminated the virus. They are getting anywhere from 1-3 cases per day.

You are an ignoramus. "Elimination" in epidemiological terms is when there is no community transmission. NZ has had no community transmission since the lockdown 3 months ago. The cases that occur presently are from arrivals back from overseas, who are placed in quarantine until they test negative for the virus.

Joe MF Biden wrote:

Greetings,

I'm running for uh, uh, President. I will everything better when I uh, uh, uh ...

Is he promoting disinfectant as a cure, drugs that don't work and the advice of those who believe in "alien" DNA? He's also double-digits ahead of Trump in the polls and still pulling away. (And he doesn't have to hold a tumbler of water with both hands). November 3 is going to be fun.

And there is the kind of dangerous ignorance that explains the disaster that is America today.

NZ shut down the country, paid everyone 80% of their salary for a month and moved on. We might gave similar results if we did the same.

But...

We have our freedoms. We don’t listen. We do whatever we want. Paying people to do nothing is “socialism” (unless you are a government contractor). The list goes on & on.

HLq wrote:

No one's fully answered the original question. As many people have pointed out, covid is still a problem outside the US. The reason why it seems like it's only a problem in the US is because of the media narrative that wants to portray Trump as uniquely incompetent (he is incompetent, but not uniquely so) and Trump supporters and conservatives more generally as uniquely stupid/stubborn/anti-science/whatever (some conservatives are those things but not all of them, and the United States does not have a monopoly on stupid/stubborn/anti-science/selfish/whatever people).

How about that a country with only 4% of the world's population has over 25% of the world's deaths from the virus? "American exceptionalism" of the worst possible kind.

trollin' along wrote:It's LetsRun. The far-left Anti-Trump bias is never ending. Virtually every thread, regardless of the original topic, gets a few "Trump sucks" posts.

Hate to break it to you bud, but being Anti-Trump is not far left. It’s not even slightly left any more, a fair number of people on the right are done with him.

And I don’t think “bias” is the right word here. To me that connotes some sort of unfair prejudice. No, the anti-Trump sentiment is well earned. Even his supporters wish he would stop tweeting. Imagine continuing to support someone while at the same time acknowledging that the thoughts in their head and words that come out of their mouth are insane.

Americans for Prosperity, average income of follower 20k/year, average missing teeth ~10, keep on being prosperous

Question - Should my body be cremated or dumped 8ft beneath?

I still don't get why Las Vegas isn't a huge breeding ground. I've just came back for 10 days last week and I was there another 10 days in Feb.

I have a slightly different take on the ‘war on science’. Problem is that some ‘science’ is not the same thing as fact. Theories and models presented represent the best understanding we have ‘at the moment’ and some hold up over time, many don’t. The guidance we received from the CDC up to about 2 months ago was ‘wash hands, disinfect surfaces,’ ‘Masks are only needed for medical professionals’. I understand that at the time that was what the data said, but things have since changed. I think the left likes to say ‘stupid Trumpers reject science’ and the right likes to say ‘guys, your scientific opinions have changed so often, it feels like you’re making this up as you go and call us ignorant for not mindlessly following along.” Truth is that science is fluid and has become weaponized by the left as another name to call someone who asks questions like ‘tell me again why we should have to wear a mask on our ranch on WY’. The irony is that in my experience the people who put science on a pedestal often have useless liberal arts degrees and have never taken a statistics or science class. Remember that science also brought us eugenics and therapeutic bleeding.

What a bunch of hyperbole. If there is anything the media is to blame for, it's always giving a platform to people who disagree even if they have no credibility. Of course science is not some unquestionable truth. It's an evolving estimate.

Good science is repeatable. Do you think there has only been a single study on the transmission of the flu and they just accepted that as good? No, there have been tons of studies on it, that confirm or refine the results of the first study.

Did the CDC recommend masks on a ranch in Wyoming? I thought the recommended them when in public places. Public places that have people in them. Maybe you don't understand the guidance if you're asking questions like that. And also taking into account that the CDC is trying to establish simple rules that simple people can follow. They aren't just taking the science of transmission into account. They are taking into account a public policy that is easy to follow for the vast majority of people. The science behind masks isn't really in dispute, except from people like Dunes Runner. The policy around masks is a fair topic for discussion and has nothing to do with science.

kuiu wrote:

effing duh wrote:

Because Trump is an idiot.

Who would have seen that brilliant reply coming?

Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer

That's what I heard. I guess as hot as it's been lately it should be all gone around here by now.

CoachB wrote:

It’s a big problem in Southern Hemisphere trump land (Brazil)

Other countries got it under control but it will come back when people try to simply “go back to normal”.

Yes, much bigger problem than the US in Peru and Chile (both in terms of people who already died and are dying every day).

Also, currently a bigger problem in Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Columbia, South Africa... than in the US. However, their problem is more recent, so they have not had the total death/million numbers than the US have at this point, but give it a few days or weeks and they will surpass the US.

Interestingly, a lot of countries which got hit the hardest early may end up doing better in the long run than the countries which avoided it earlier on (it seems counter intuitive)

So the US is doing worse than France (got hit hard before the US) for example (total death per million), but Peru, Chile... (were affected later than US) will end up worse than the US.

"Maybe you don't understand the guidance if you're asking questions like that." Is exactly the thing I'm talking about - like the second you ask "hey Boulder County, you have passed an ordinance that says you must wear a mask when passing a person on a trail show me data supporting that you can catch covid when outside, walking by a person for a couple of seconds in a large field. The response is then "you're an ignorant anti-science trumper". My political persuasion is moot here - we should all be asking these questions. I see a very troubling trend of an inability to have a respectful exchange of ideas that ties out to facts, or at least peer-reviewed data.