4 ms·

It's possible to close borders without being on an island. I (in NZ) don't think the the island factor is essential. The USA has more active military personne

by mkl 6y ago

It's possible to close borders without being on an island. I (in NZ) don't think the the island factor is essential. The USA has more active military personnel than almost any other country, enough to make closing borders pretty easy compared with many other places.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
It's not clear that it is possible. The obvious point of comparison is China, which has continually had to fight off new waves of infections despite strong lockdowns and strong border restrictions. (A lockdown started just 2 weeks ago covering about as many people as the total population of Australia.)
- andylynch 6y ago
  They do seem to be doing ok with it. Their lockdowns and done properly and actually work. ( speaking from the UK where arrivals still quarantine on the honour system and govt offices are hot spots despite being declared ‘COVID safe’)
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    I'm not saying they're doing badly, just that they've been unable to fully close their borders to the virus despite being equally committed to doing so.
icelancer 6y ago
>> I (in NZ) don't think the the island factor is essential. Why are the countries consistently being cited for doing good jobs in this thread seem to be island nations? Exclude AUS and NZ from the analysis and there are very few landlocked countries doing a good job without very authoritarian measures that are unlikely to be legal in the countries doing poorly.
- gridspy 6y ago
  Probably because our (NZ) governments are simpler. The entire New Zealand government is probably more similar to a state legislature than it is to the US govt. The UK could have also succeeded but the government didn't have the will to even try early on. Now they are only willing to take half measures. Also, we DID (NZ, AUZ) have a small advantage since we had less inbound infected for a few weeks early on due to distance. But then again, other nations (US, UK, ...) didn't even try to pursue an elimination strategy.
- mantas 6y ago
  Eh. My country, a small EU member having land border with several EU members and other countries did a good job in spring. Next-to-zero cases in summer. Then the public demanded to open up the gates. We ended up #1 in Europe around Christmas...
  - gridspy 6y ago
    Sounds like a great example of how a non-island can successfully control the virus and how when the govt stops trying, the virus comes straight back. Also, I bet that when "the public demanded" it was a loud and public minority who wanted travel (and Covid-19) back.
- flukus 6y ago
  > Why are the countries consistently being cited for doing good jobs in this thread seem to be island nations? Because these are western english speaking nations with a similar culture that have people posting on HN.

by mkl 6y ago

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago

It's not clear that it is possible. The obvious point of comparison is China, which has continually had to fight off new waves of infections despite strong lockdowns and strong border restrictions. (A lockdown started just 2 weeks ago covering about as many people as the total population of Australia.)

andylynch 6y ago
They do seem to be doing ok with it. Their lockdowns and done properly and actually work. ( speaking from the UK where arrivals still quarantine on the honour system and govt offices are hot spots despite being declared ‘COVID safe’)
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  I'm not saying they're doing badly, just that they've been unable to fully close their borders to the virus despite being equally committed to doing so.

icelancer 6y ago

>> I (in NZ) don't think the the island factor is essential. Why are the countries consistently being cited for doing good jobs in this thread seem to be island nations? Exclude AUS and NZ from the analysis and there are very few landlocked countries doing a good job without very authoritarian measures that are unlikely to be legal in the countries doing poorly.

gridspy 6y ago
Probably because our (NZ) governments are simpler. The entire New Zealand government is probably more similar to a state legislature than it is to the US govt. The UK could have also succeeded but the government didn't have the will to even try early on. Now they are only willing to take half measures. Also, we DID (NZ, AUZ) have a small advantage since we had less inbound infected for a few weeks early on due to distance. But then again, other nations (US, UK, ...) didn't even try to pursue an elimination strategy.
mantas 6y ago
Eh. My country, a small EU member having land border with several EU members and other countries did a good job in spring. Next-to-zero cases in summer. Then the public demanded to open up the gates. We ended up #1 in Europe around Christmas...
- gridspy 6y ago
  Sounds like a great example of how a non-island can successfully control the virus and how when the govt stops trying, the virus comes straight back. Also, I bet that when "the public demanded" it was a loud and public minority who wanted travel (and Covid-19) back.
flukus 6y ago
> Why are the countries consistently being cited for doing good jobs in this thread seem to be island nations? Because these are western english speaking nations with a similar culture that have people posting on HN.