Any predictions on the season happening?

[bladerunnr]

You're wrong about Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. It wasn't just masks that saved them. They all used sophisticated data collection, testing, and contact tracing to contain the spread of COVID.

Taiwan had rigorous testing and contact tracing as early as January, plus they have a very advanced medical data collection system. They didn't have to do as many tests in raw numbers because their initial response was so effective:

https://www.darkdaily.com/taiwans-conta ... ory-tests/

South Korea had a similar response:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/trust-tes ... d=70433504

Japan had more limited testing capacity so they compensated with substantial resources in contact tracing early on, working from the understanding that a small percentage of infected people account for a lot of transmission of the virus:

https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/japans- ... 9-testing/

As for Belgium, there is some controversy surrounding their counting method - they are counting deaths in elderly care facilities that don't have a positive test but were suspected of coronavirus in their numbers while other countries are not.

Using California as an example of how masks don't work is not a very scientifically valid claim. There's no data on how widespread mask use is, and their rise in cases coincided with them reopening bars, restaurants, and other businesses for indoor activity.

Another thing to remember about all of these countries that have done a far better job of containing coronavirus (whether it's Nordic countries or Southeast Asian ones) is that they have far better public health infrastructure than the US and far more robust social insurance (both medical care and paid sick leave) than the US, but ya'll ain't ready for that conversation.

I'll make a couple points that you failed to mention The U.S. has an obesity rate of 36 percent. That's far higher than Germany, France, and every Asian country. For example, China's obesity rate is about 4 percent. We have far more diet and obesity issues than other countries. Regarding health infrastructure, our doctors and hospitals have unlimited legal liability that no other country has to suffer.
I won't argue our medical system needs some sort of overhaul, but it will cost a fortune in new taxes that most people don't want to pay.

[Cowduck]

Obesity prevalence would affect the death rate but not the infection or transmission rates. You’ll get no argument from me that we are a more vulnerable population in terms of likelihood of dying from COVID once infected. Our widespread transmission rates have far more to do with long-simmering chronic social, economic, and political rot and acute stupidity and incompetence.

[ragtimejoe1]

Under 49 and no comorbidities = statistical chance of 0 for death and a fraction of a percent for hospitalization. Who gives a flip about transmission rate if it's among people who have no symptoms or clear it quickly?

If you're scared, stay home. Let the low risk crowd back at it. Not using the science and data we have is asinine.

Oh, how do explain that the riots, I mean protests didn't spread the virus as reported by all the liberal news hacks? Absolutely remarkable that this virus can differentiate social gatherings. Unbelievable really.