[Mick]

So how did it happen?  A couple different articles touch on what might be the reason:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/m...oronavirus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ss-testing

They seem to indicate that there was no single silver bullet but that a collection of things helped Japan without having to declare a lockdown.

The prevailing theme seems to suggest that people's behavior was a strong factor.  

Anyway, I'm wondering if there's any silver linings in Japan's experience that might offer hope for the US.

I spent a few hours on Saturday with my 84 year old in laws.  Mrs. Mick spends a few days a month cleaning their house since my wife and her sisters don't want cleaning people in their house due to the pandemic.  We both wear N95 masks and gloves while we're there, and I stay outside.

It was exhausting.  I suspect this might be true for many/most senior citizens, but it's been very, very difficult for them to abandon the habits of a lifetime in favor of the augmented hygiene necessary to survive COVID-19.  They treat social distancing as an irritant, and I stopped counting at a dozen the number of times they did something (or wanted to do something) that was fundamentally unsafe, and I know that we irritated them by insisting on proper behavior.  They are both smart, accomplished people.  My father in law (Stanford '57 and '60) was a NASA scientist.  They find it very hard to pay attention to the myriad minute behavioral changes to ensure safety.

[Mick]

So how did it happen?  A couple different articles touch on what might be the reason:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/m...oronavirus
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ss-testing

They seem to indicate that there was no single silver bullet but that a collection of things helped Japan without having to declare a lockdown.

The prevailing theme seems to suggest that people's behavior was a strong factor.  

Anyway, I'm wondering if there's any silver linings in Japan's experience that might offer hope for the US.

I spent a few hours on Saturday with my 84 year old in laws.  Mrs. Mick spends a few days a month cleaning their house since my wife and her sisters don't want cleaning people in their house due to the pandemic.  We both wear N95 masks and gloves while we're there, and I stay outside.

It was exhausting.  I suspect this might be true for many/most senior citizens, but it's been very, very difficult for them to abandon the habits of a lifetime in favor of the augmented hygiene necessary to survive COVID-19.  They treat social distancing as an irritant, and I stopped counting at a dozen the number of times they did something (or wanted to do something) that was fundamentally unsafe, and I know that we irritated them by insisting on proper behavior.  They are both smart, accomplished people.  My father in law (Stanford '57 and '60) was a NASA scientist.  They find it very hard to pay attention to the myriad minute behavioral changes to ensure safety.