Sorry, but are you drunk? The Asian countries (out of China) didn't have lockdowns or a collapse of economic activity.
Originally Posted by: xioni2
Taiwan implemented strict border controls, quarantine and testing from the very outset.
Singapore is a special case, since it is a constrained and small geographic area with very strong government and social control.
Stats for Thailand and Malaysia are most likely fictive, but it is interesting that they do not appear to have been overwhelmed like Italy.
We know that Indonesia has been engaged in a massive cover up, so difficult to know what is actually happening on the ground there.
South Korea were quickly on the case when a cluster emerged there - by rigorous testing and contact tracing, they have managed to contain it for now - but all European countries are well past the stage of being able to do that.
One of the mysteries of this virus is why and how it can suddenly erupt and rocket in particular places like Iran, Italy, New York - and now most of western Europe - that is something academics and epidemiologists are trying to understand. There are going to be numerous factors - here are a few:
- local climate.
- local demographics, especially age profile.
- local customs, including those related to personal hygiene.
- mixing of demographics - worse affected countries like Italy and Spain have a history of different generations living together.
- housing type - high density housing in apartment blocks is a key indicator of likely contagion.
These and many other factors will be at work in determining where the virus takes a particular hold on a population.