Why have certain countries not suffered?

[Wilsonwilson]

There is a streamer I watch who has been trapped in Vietnam. They had a short lock down in march but have been fine since. Why? It doesn't make sense.

Because we've done uncomfortable things from the start.

What my country has done:

1. Closed borders since March last year. Even returning nationals had to wait months before they could return home which I find was quite harsh.
2. Mandatory quarantine for all persons allowed to return.
3. Schools closed since March 13th 2020. Nurseries and daycares also as children cannot be expected to observe the mask-wearing and hygiene levels required.
4. Lockdown of everything except the most essential services at the end of March 31st 2020 and all through April to mid-May.
5. Bars still closed, restaurants closed for a long time, funerals and weddings limited to 5-10 persons depending on time of year, rivers, beaches, gyms also closed for most of 2020.
6. Mandatory maks-wearing from April 2020.

We did have a spike in August-September last year coming out of our elections and we believe the virus underwent community spread due to the large number of immigrants entering our country illegally, however, the strict measures have worked. For the most part, life is pretty normal. We can go out to restuarants once more, enjoy the beach, gyms are open again etc. Schools and nurseries remain closed but people here are happy about that as the general concensus is this that this safer for the children involved and there is the added benefit of much less traffic on the roads

TL;DR - We did the tough stuff early on and continue to do some of it now and it's worked.

@FatCatThinCat, I suspect that's what 'Spanish Flu' was like. If it hit your community it was quick and over with. The awareness didn't go on for long periods, people didn't talk about it constantly, you might have a completely unaffected community or barely touched, anyway.

"South Korea has an average annual relative humidity of 67%"

But that doesn't account for the fact that it is extremely dry in winter compared to the UK.

@Eeeemac

South Korea has an average annual relative humidity of 67% Japan 64% Hong Kong 83%

Etc, etc.

Brazil average humidity 80%

Not sure this argument holds up on its own. Clearly government response including quarantine and border control matter hugely.