Re cheap travel and open borders, Jiangsu province, China is 300 miles from Wuhan, has 21 active cases, 610 recoveries and 0 deaths and presumably cheap travel and not much borders to Wuhan. On the other hand the US say is expensive to travel to and has a leader that goes on about closing borders, 2000 cases, 41 deaths and rising rapidly. The difference is competent policy not borders and cheap travel.

I'd like to hope, wishful thinking here, that there might be a trend towards requiring more scientific competence in our leaders going forward.