[BostonCard]

Australia and New Zealand were not prepping for years, and both have strong ties to China (New Zealand via tourists, who would have flocked for the New Zealand summer, and Australia because of exports of minerals and coal).

You are right of course, that there were failures in preparation, but I think the lapses in leadership exacerbated the current situation.

Also, even within Europe there is a lot of variability in response effectiveness.  We have talked about testing in Germany; Germany has about 1/4 the per capita deaths due to COVID-19 as France does.  Denmark has 1/4 the deaths of Sweden, just across the Baltic.  Preparation is important, of course, but response matters too.

BC

[BostonCard]

Australia and New Zealand were not prepping for years, and both have strong ties to China (New Zealand via tourists, who would have flocked for the New Zealand summer, and Australia because of exports of minerals and coal).

You are right of course, that there were failures in preparation, but I think the lapses in leadership exacerbated the current situation.

Also, even within Europe there is a lot of variability in response effectiveness.  We have talked about testing in Germany; Germany has about 1/4 the per capita deaths due to COVID-19 as France does.  Denmark has 1/4 the deaths of Sweden, just across the Baltic.  Preparation is important, of course, but response matters too.

BC