There is so much to learn about COVID 19. I think we will eventually be very surprised. 

Why are Korea and Japan’s numbers so low

I think there are two reasons.  They don’t shake hands and they wear masks.  Handshaking seems to me to be a very efficient means of transferring the virus.  Let us say someone has the virus and is coughing a bit or has a runny nose.  Maybe they use a tissue but still, some of the viral material gets on their hands.  They shake hands with someone and transfer the virus to that person.  That person then touches their face, nose, or eyes.  There you have it!!

Masks offer great protection of both people use the mask.  So if you bow and do not shake hands, and you both have a mask, I think the probability of transferring the disease could drop by 100 times.

Just think, what if we only had to do those two things and did not have to close down the economy?

Sweden and Norway-the great experiment

Sweden and Norway have similar populations but have taken very different approaches to handle the virus.

Norway went on lockdown.  They have had 224 deaths out of a population of about 5 million.  Sweden is business as usual.  They have 3,256 deaths with a popular of a bit more than 10 million.  Sweden is letting people get infected and hoping for herd immunity.  Norway is flattening the curb.

As I have written before, a delay is not a cure.  The reason to flatten the curb is primarily to make sure that the health care system is not overrun and also to hope that we can learn more about how to treat the disease and thereby reduce the mortality rate. 

So while the number in Sweden looks awful, I want to see how the two numbers compare adjusted for population in a year. 

By the way, Israel, where I live,  has a population close to that of Sweden. It did go on lockdown but is now exiting.  We have only had 258 deaths.   The median age in Sweden and Norway is around 40.  In Israel, the median age is 30 which is part of the reason.

By the way, we don’t really shake hands in Israel.  We are huggers.  I think hugging is a lot safer than handshaking.