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There are also cultural differences, Italians like to hang out in groups, outside, personal space is much smaller, people hug and kiss and touch all the time. A
by ivanhoe 7y ago
There are also cultural differences, Italians like to hang out in groups, outside, personal space is much smaller, people hug and kiss and touch all the time. Also they're not really the most disciplined nation, lots of them simply ignored the safety rules, continued to go out, there were even some cases where infected people run away from quarantine.
And additionally the spread of virus is not uniform as it depends on social circles, so it's very hard to compare the situations using just general population stats. In South Korea one of the early patients infected more than a thousand other people, while some patients infected no one else or only a few. It's totally random event, and a few patients like that can create a huge differences in the spread of the disease. In Italy they've had the bad luck that early on virus got into hospitals and retirement homes, so the most sensitive population was massively affected.
- m_mueller 7y agoI think there is another factor as well: have a look at train stations during rush hour on East Asia currently vs. Europe. 1) the density is significantly higher but 2) nearly everyone is wearing surgical masks now. I think that mask wearing is an effective measure to slow down the spread, acting at the sender side rather than the receiver (which Western people tend to focus on). You can see a similarly lower exponential spread in other Asian nations compared to Europe and I think that masks plus a lesser degree of body contact can explain this largely.
- mantap 7y agoPart of the problem is that pretty much everybody in East Asia already owned at least one mask. In Europe pretty much nobody owned a mask prior to COVID-19. And masks have been sold out for weeks. If masks were easily available you'd see people wearing them I'm sure.
- WildGreenLeave 7y agoAt least in The Netherlands there are still plenty of masks to be found. You won't find the surgical masks anymore but masks for construction work is still plenty available. I think most europeans look down on wearing masks as something stupid, most europeans also think hand sanitizer is stupid. (This just applies to my dutch family and friends over there, I am currently in Thailand and always wearing a mask and hand sanitizer)
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hrktb 7y agoThis is partly an effect of cultural issues related to immunity and how it's perceived in most europe countries. Even putting aside the whole deliberate sharing germs and force building body resistance, wearing a mask is seen as anti-social, somewhat selfish, weak and alarming. People's reactions to a mask is really ranging from "you shouldn't wear it at all, we're among friends (at work)" to "if you're that ill you shouldn't get out of your home and take a sick leave". There few middle ground, accepting wearing a mask just in a case, or for some benign infection.
- imtringued 7y agoYou can't know who has the virus so everyone has to wear the mask to prevent the spread.
- therealx 7y agoExcept no one seems to wear them fully correctly, and a lot of people don't have the proper rating of mask. Not to mention theres a limited supply of masks.
- maxerickson 7y agoDid they infect 1000 people, or were they the index case for a group of 1000?
- UberMouse 7y agoThey seem to have infected hundreds at minimum, a few thousand potentially. They are the index case for up to 80% of the infections in South Kore. https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTERS/0100B5G33SB/index.html https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTER...
- brokenmachine 7y ago>In South Korea one of the early patients infected more than a thousand other people Really? That's horrifying. Any links about that?
- Kiro 7y agohttps://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTERS/0100B5G33SB/index.html https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-SOUTHKOREA-CLUSTER...