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?

@justasking111

Grandson saw GP for tonsillitis. GP told the whole family to get tested just incase

Good for the GP! The tests are readily available and tonsillitis type symptoms seem to be more common with the Delta variant.

@Delatron

Ah ok *@ZZTopGuitarSolo* yes I heard they had a lot of cases initially when they opened up last summer. But then avoided subsequent peaks?

It would make sense if the older population protected themselves and were very careful. It does sit with the strategy of allowing people to make their own choices though I guess.

It's not so much a "strategy" as a legal limitation.

Federal US government is limited in what it can order states to do. I think the US is closer to the EU in structure than a single country like the UK - individual US states have a huge degree of autonomy.

[quote sergeilavrov]@ZZTopGuitarSolo While you may have had track and trace locally, there isn’t a federal effort. I had the misfortune to visit Texas on several occasions during this pandemic, and it was like a brush with death. The general response in the US has been ludicrously poor![/quote]
Yes lots of things were done at a state rather than federal level. But many states had track and trace systems in place that worked well, so your comment that there were no track and trace systems is simply not correct.

IME the general response in the US has wildly varied and in many states has been excellent. I've been glad to be here rather than in the UK.

Federal US government is limited in what it can order states to do. I think the US is closer to the EU in structure than a single country like the UK - individual US states have a huge degree of autonomy.

Indeed - we were protected to differing extents from the horrors of the Trump government's response by the fact that so much was managed at a state level.

Federal US government is limited in what it can order states to do. I think the US is closer to the EU in structure than a single country like the UK - individual US states have a huge degree of autonomy.

The UK is not a single country and never had been. The clue is in the name......

As every country has different testing and recording protocols I think it is of little benefit to compare.

The US is made up of 50 states all with different testing protocols.

Lots of them ARE testing asymptotic people: asking whole cities and towns to test.

They don't use lateral flow because they are useless.

Schools stayed remote for far longer than the U.K. Schools are now out for the summer anyway.

Even very small kids wore masks in public. My 3 year old had to wear one at the play park last summer.

The population density in most places is much lower.

The healthcare system overall is much better funded and a whole different level of staffing/treatment for when people do become ill. Americans who are under insured make the news here but the care that is available isn't remotely comparable to the NHS.

They never approved the Oxford vaccine. Everyone who has been jabbed has had Pfizer or moderna with the second jab given in a much shorter time frame.

In other words it's not apples to apples at all!

@AfternoonToffee

As every country has different testing and recording protocols I think it is of little benefit to compare.

Exactly. The virus is obviously spreading at a faster rate than the UK but 1/ we test a shitload more 2/ we can all get tests and we can use them until our hearts content, despite some others thinking it's on for 3 symptoms 3/ we do more genomic sequencing that anywhere else. I guess if you don't know....... 4/ our positivity rate on tests is still very low.

For all the UK govt has got wrong (and the list is endless) we do know more about the current Covid situation in the country than practically any other country.

Some people hate having that knowledge but surely it's a positive thing and means we can also react quicker.

Yes, they have failed us big time on the Delta variant, but it was always coming here. We know its a risk, we are reacting to that risk and hopefully it will be the right call in the long term.

And if it stops us being able to travel to any other country - well that's a good thing

That should say virus is spreading at a faster rate in the UK!

Admittedly it's falling, but US death rate is currently about 7x that of the UK

@bravefox

Admittedly it's falling, but US death rate is currently about 7x that of the UK

The difference is that the UK came out of lockdown fairly recently, so should expect to see deaths rise, whereas the US has not been in lockdown in a very long time, and despite that is seeing cases falling.

But I'd also add that in the US a lot of stupid older people are refusing the vaccine, and as a result are getting sick and dying. And I have zero sympathy for them tbh...

@ZZTopGuitarSolo Okay, ‘effective’ track and trace. If the effort stops at open borders, and the borders are open… there may as well not be track and trace. I am a US permanent resident, and was very pleased to be in the Middle East for the duration - but I’d pick the UK above the US any day.

[quote sergeilavrov]@ZZTopGuitarSolo Okay, ‘effective’ track and trace. If the effort stops at open borders, and the borders are open… there may as well not be track and trace. I am a US permanent resident, and was very pleased to be in the Middle East for the duration - but I’d pick the UK above the US any day.[/quote]
No, the state borders were not all open. I'm surprised you don't know that tbh.

The UK death rates are low because a very high percentage of vulnerable people are fully vaccinated.

OK lockdown has played a part, but the biggest reason is vaccinations.

@feather12 The US has the highest total number of deaths from Covid. But it doesn't have the highest depth rate, that's Peru.The US has a lower death rate per 1 million population than the UK.

I have wondered this too though. But they are concerned now about the Delta variant so things could change in States where vaccine take up is v low. But most restrictions have been eased now...also mask wearing was v consistent where I live, including children in schools. We did not have any known cases at the kids' school since September. There are no exemptions for not wearing a mask in shops. None. You're told to shop on line.

@ZZTopGuitarSolo … I must have missed the memo where state to state travel was closed off. Maybe I was on a plane when it was announced en route to Texas, Florida and Arizona. As I said: ineffective.

I can only speak for my state (Connecticut) but mask-wearing has been strictly enforced. We recently dropped the mandate, but still about fifty percent of people wear masks inside of stores. There were zero exceptions regarding mask wearing.

I have one friend who did the J&J vaccine; everyone else I know did Pfizer and Moderna. It was a 3-week gap for Pfizer, 4-week gap for Moderna. Most teens I know have been double vaxxed.

School went back last September hybrid only and in masks. They went full time in February. My children—ages 7 and 10—have just finished for the year, but will be expected to wear masks in the fall, until vaccination for their age group is rolled out.

Bars only very recently reopened, after being shut since March 2020. Only in the last few weeks have you been able to go to the gym without a mask.

Trump effed up in a massive way, in a multitude of ways. Things have been much better since Biden took over, but as others have said, individual States here wield extraordinary powers. Our governor employed a cautious approach the whole way and I’m glad we had him at the helm. We are now at 70 percent fully vaccinated in Connecticut.

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and all restrictions were lifted this week. No more masks required outside or inside except in institutional settings - hospitals, prisons, long term care etc. People are still wearing them in the more crowded downtown areas, but not in neighborhoods.

We have reached more than 70% vaccine rate - the predicted 'herd immunity' so are keeping our fingers crossed that it works.

It feels very odd to be able to go out without carrying a mask. Don't think we'll ever give them up now - especially during winter months, to prevent spread of colds and flu.

[quote sergeilavrov]@ZZTopGuitarSolo … I must have missed the memo where state to state travel was closed off. Maybe I was on a plane when it was announced en route to Texas, Florida and Arizona. As I said: ineffective.[/quote]
Yes, you did miss many memos about restricted travel, which is not really surprising I guess as you weren't living here.

I was unable to travel to Chicago to pick up my daughter from college because a) I would have to quarantine upon arrival in Chicago, and b) I would have to quarantine upon arrival back in Maine.

I was unable to give my SIL a ride to his college in Pittsburgh because there were no hotels within a 10 hour drive of my house that I could book to stay in because I was out of state.

My DD and I were unable to visit the colleges in Vermont she wanted to attend because Vermont was not allowing visitors from most other states.

Visitors to many states were required to quarantine upon arrival, and were unable to book accommodation.

OTOH it was a great year for those of us in tourist states who were able to get AirBNBs in our own states much more easily than usual.

We took a road trip in April which was totally dictated by the quarantine requirements on return to our city.

But I might never seen Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama without that push.

There were definitely significant travel restrictions fit Illinois residents ( particularly in Chicago)

Our vacations last year were entirely dictated by which states we were allowed into and which states we were allowed to come back from without a lengthy quarantine.

So it was a week in Maine and a week in NH.

When DD returned to college she isolated in her room for 2 weeks.

Son in law eventually decided it was just too complicated to try to get back to Pittsburgh.

At one point DH came back from a trip and had to isolate from everyone in the house. One of his colleagues who is married to a doctor had to isolate away from the family home - rules set by her employer.

It certainly was not a time of uncomplicated travel.

Well I know in my neck of the American woods we have worn masks in all shops since April 2020, and when children finally returned to elementary school masks were mandatory at all times in the school buildings and outside. High schools had hybrid classes, with masks mandatory for those groups doing in school classes at all times

Businesses can still mandate masks. I haven't seen anyone without a mask anywhere.

Plus just about 55 percent of the pop of the state I live in are vaccinated, with higher percentages in the metro area where I am, possibly lower percentages in rural (Republican) areas.

YYY to quarantine regs too. Illinois is surrounded by 'throw caution to the wind' states. At one point the difference in positivity rate stats between Illinois and neighbouring Wisconsin reflected very starkly the attitude divide.

@blameitonthecaffeine

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.

Not necessarily. For our state we are at 56% of all people over the age of 12 fully vaccinated. For over 18s it’s over 70% that are fully vaxxed. We also had the Johnson and Johnson one-shot vaccine so it was quicker to get through more people.

[quote sergeilavrov]@ZZTopGuitarSolo … I must have missed the memo where state to state travel was closed off. Maybe I was on a plane when it was announced en route to Texas, Florida and Arizona. As I said: ineffective.[/quote]
Hawaii closed the borders for over a year. They have only just reopened. Many states imposed a quarantine rule for visitors from out of state.