How come US have such low Covid cases...

[Mimosafortea]

US aren’t really distancing anymore are they...?
I have a friend who lives there and says her life
is pretty much back to normal.

How come? Why are the cases rising again in the UK?

Are we ever honestly going to go back to living
normally?

They ae probably not testing manically like we are...

The Delta variant. That is why [ known as the Indian variant]

This intrigues me too.

And India. How have their cases nosedive so much when so few are vaccinated and many areas can't afford lock downs? Even if they are underestimating multiple times, the percentage decrease is still strange. Other European countries also seemed to stay high for ages then cases suddenly fell off a cliff. No gradual decline like we tend to have.

They are also immunising children age 12 plus.

They only have three weeks between first and second doses of vaccinations, plus anyone who wants one has been able to get one since the get-go.

I don't think they test people with no symptoms the same way we do.

feesh - yes, but don't they have a very high rate of vaccine refusal? I thought their overall double vaccinated rate was lower than ours? Or maybe it's just lower than our single vaccinated rate.

The results and measures are very different across states but my step sisters 14 and 16 have already been double vaccinated.

They are nit accepting travel in from the uk.

Most adults double jabbed now
Herd immunity in places that didn’t lock down
Less obsession with testing so possibly more actual cases?

The difference is Delta. America needs to be careful not to get too complacent, but fingers crossed their vaccine roll out will keep it from spreading too much.

They are not testing people with no symptoms. They do not use the LFT as it's unreliable. They are double vaccinating very quickly, everyone over 12.

@neveradullmoment99

They are also immunising children age 12 plus.

Yes, while so many elderly or clinically vulnerable people remain unable to get a vaccine.

The US has the highest death rate from covid, yet we all act like it is over. I think the disproportionate amount of deaths in minority groups tells us all we really need to know about the way the US is handling the situation.

I just moved fro there.

Basically as above and also most international travel in has been banned since March 2020 by executive order. Unless you are a US citizen or legal permanent resident, you still cannot travel there. They have contained variants much better.

Another thing- they are mainly vaccinating with Pfizer and Moderna which are over 90% effective against symptomatic infection.

How on earth have they not had any real problem variants? Even if they aren't sequencing, it would be clear in hospitalisations.

Or is it just (!) that the UK and India (and some others) have inadequate healthcare systems for their population? So are really working at the margins.

Delta variant. Border control.

Even with the worst of Donald Trump, still nowhere near as bad a response as the inaction of Boris Johnson.

Well we're testing people regularly with no symptoms (which is a bit bonkers in my opinion)

The Delta variant is growing quickly in the USA... doubling in a week to 10% of total cases. It will continue to spread as it has here as vaccination rates are not great in many places

The problem particularly lies in the Trump-supporting states where vaccinations rates are far lower than the U.K. despite being universally available for months. The US isn't on target to get 70% of its adults vaccinated by Biden's 4th July target with new vaccinations sharply down, compared to the U.K. which has passed 80% with millions still waiting their turn.

@shouldistop

Well we're testing people regularly with no symptoms (which is a bit bonkers in my opinion)

I'm not sure why that's "bonkers" given asymptomatic people can spread Covid.

There Delta variant is only just starting
Borders - they are not shut in the way you would think - they are to us and Europe, land borders are closed but some unexpected countries can get in

Schools are now on holiday and were not reopened in the way ours were (they were not a priority like it was here)

Less testing, vaccinations done differently.

But mainly it is I think the different attitude. Vaccines work (even against Delta) and the ethos of the US is very much for personal responsibility and freedom

They have pretty much the same death rate as us (approx 1 person dead in every 550), and are still losing hundreds a day to Covid. Neither country is out of the woods just yet.

I think we are being brainwashed with the 'Delta' variant.

Where my family live (New York) anyone can get vaccinated down the pub, you get a free beer after

I know some parts of the country are anti vaxx but I think the biggest population centers are not, they're mostly ahead of Europe in getting the vaccine out to everyone

Kent variant was a big deal in USA. Not kept out at all.

I suspect we may well have another bad wave in the future.

But currently we have only just stopped wearing masks in my State, and everyone 3 and up wore them for everything, no one exceptions for over a year.

Then my whole family including dc has had two shots. This is normal in our social group.
Although the numbers for the whole state are only around 60%.