joedirt wrote:
There are two conditions that are optimal for the transmission of this virus: heating and air conditioning without economizers. The Asian countries you listed still mostly rely on natural ventilation (which provides lots of air changes) to stay cool and do not heat. Texas, Florida and much of California rarely heat, which is why their initial spread was limited, whereas the northeast and Europe were hammered. New Zealand rarely requires much of either (similar to coastal regions of Northern California that rarely get terribly hot or cold).
So, this explains why infection rates are so low in India and Brazil. What's that? (Checks worldometer) Oh. I guess you might be completely wrong.
I live in Houston, Texas. We use the heat all the time from late November through early March. Mid winter is typically 60s for highs and 40s for lows. In Dallas, it is 10-15 degrees cooler on average in winter and winter is longer.
New Zealand's winter is mild, but it still gets plenty cold and everyone has heat in their homes.
Initial spread was limited in TX, CA, NZ, etc. because they took lockdown measures very early. In Houston, we had a stay at home order in place within a few days of the health department confirming community spread of the virus in mid March.