I'd say they are pretty similar in most respects. But geography is a big difference that is relevant to Covid-19.

Autrstial probably didn't have community spread of covid until Late Feb. But America had community spread in at least mid Jan--and probably earlier. But Australia locked down essentially when America did. If they can eradicate the disease, that's a huge win, but if they can't they are just delaying what happened in America.

Aus is an island. The US boarders two countries and has an illegal smuggling problem. The size-to-population isn't even remotely similar, and neither are the rights allowed to the citizens.

English speaking, lots of space, common law..

Yes, but Australia has kangaroos and the Us doesn’t. What does English have to do with COVID—19?

So what country do ou think is more similar culturally to the US, then?

Or is your point just that America is Special and can't be compared to anyone?

Why don't you choose one that has approximately the same population and same population density -- that's why choosing an individual U.S. state might be a better choice because the U.S. is large and has a wide range of population densities.

The key point here is transmission of an infectious disease, so to get a proper comparison, you need to start with approximately the same probabilities of people infecting one another. That begins with proximity. Comparing the U.S. and Australia doesn't work because of that.

Ah yes, because language is the most important reason to get an infectious disease...

Am I here on HN or in r/worldnews?

Maybe they think Coronavirus is caused by the vocal chord parasites from Metal Gear Solid 5

I didn't talk about the probability to get COVID. Just the cultural similarities in general.