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It may have worked in Asia pretty well, and we don't know how bad things would be without masks.

oh, I'm sure masks are somewhat effective.  Things would obviously be worse w/o them.

So, Asia just hasn't had the percentage of cases or deaths as most of the rest of the world???

different strain or different behaviors (forced or otherwise) or different something??

oh, I'm sure masks are somewhat effective.  Things would obviously be worse w/o them.

So, Asia just hasn't had the percentage of cases or deaths as most of the rest of the world???

different strain or different behaviors (forced or otherwise) or different something??

CCP is not being truthful in their reporting.

Japan and South Korea are essentially islands (I know SK is not, but when your only neighbor is North Korea, it may as well be).

I don't agree that it's random chance.  Viruses mutate and evolve in pretty predictable ways.  There's a reason they tend to mutate toward the weaker and less deadly, otherwise they choke themselves out.  Arguably the Spanish Flu did exactly that.

But now I'm picking nits, which is what engineers tend to do, especially with one another.  I'd say you and I are probably about 95% agreed on most of this stuff.

Well, most mutations are bad. By that I don't mean "more dangerous", I mean most mutations make the virus less effective at being a successful virus. 

Which makes sense. You've mutated to be so good at what you do that you've created a global pandemic. You're on top of the evolutionary heap! Where do you have to go from there but down? 

So I agree that viruses tend to mutate toward weaker, because if they get TOO good at killing people, then they usually don't spread as quickly. 

But the bold parts are important words, because they signify that these tendencies aren't hard laws of nature that are never controverted. 

So yeah, we agree. I just hate when people assume that we won't see a more dangerous mutation because we don't usually see that. As the Spanish Flu showed, maybe it choked itself out more quickly regarding how many people overall it infected, but it killed a HELL of a lot more people than we think the original strain would have which was less deadly. 

oh, I'm sure masks are somewhat effective.  Things would obviously be worse w/o them.

So, Asia just hasn't had the percentage of cases or deaths as most of the rest of the world???

different strain or different behaviors (forced or otherwise) or different something??

There is some evidence for different strain.  Mask wearing of course is socially mandated in effect in most Asian countries, including places like Hong Kong where the numbers MAY be accurate.  Africa is also not seeing high rates of infection.

There is a LOT about this I do not understand at all, I've said for months I think we're missing something important.

I'd like to think that if everyone wore a mask properly and every time they went out or got close to another person the virus would be defeated, but I'm just not believing it.

Yeah, but you have to think about how most people consider masks...

• "I wear a mask every time I go out! I wear them at the store, at work, when I'm getting my hair cut, etc!"
• "But didn't you just have your three closest friends over for a dinner party at home without a mask?"
• "Yeah, but I'm sure they're safe. They wear masks a lot too!"
• "And then didn't you take your kids to a birthday party with their friends and all their parents were there, without masks?"
• "Yeah, but the party was outside, not inside. That's safe, right?"
• "And then didn't you go to a family event with your siblings and parents for Labor Day? Without masks?"
• "Yeah, but MY family doesn't have COVID, they're safe!"

We wear masks around strangers, because stranger danger. And then we don't have the same policy around people we know personally, because we have a natural human instinct to think they're safer than strangers. This is human behavior. I'm guilty of it too. 

Hospitality won't make it aside from the Big Guys, and they are going to be hammered without bail outs.

That means folks who own the buildings will get hit, workers get hit, and so on down the line.  If we shut down again, it could end the economy as we know it.

Yeah, we'll go back to living in caves and using the barter system.....