I appreciate the contrary feedback.
Do you have a link to the high mask compliance in Indiana handy? I've honestly looked for this kind of data and haven't been able to find it, and so assumed fairly poor (US-wide at least) mask wear based on anecdotes.
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/06/pandemic...
That's horseshit. I live in lefty, liberal, science-believing Silicon Valley and I see less than half the people walking on the streets wearing masks.
That is to say, I believe the survey is targeted for indoor mask usage, as this is also the mandate in most states that mandate mask wearing (while indoors, or outdoors when 6 feet is not possible)
One hard lockdown, supported by incredibly through contact tracing was.
I don't think a single polity in the US, including NYC had a single hard lockdown.
And I know that not a single polity in the US has managed to do effective contact tracing.
To be clear: I wasn't saying that minimal lockdown was the reason for low numbers, though how I laid it out is definitely unclear.
My belief is that near universal mask compliance is the main reason some countries have managed to keep the virus under control even though they haven't been forced to do severe lockdowns.
Your point about contact tracing is relevant of course. I know both Japan and S. Korea did a lot of that, and of course the US didn't even try.
This may perhaps (along with masks, and the use of pretty much every source of data by Korea) explain much of the variance in outcomes.
In my mind, the above facts are really all that's necessary: dense population + minimal lock down + universal mask wear == low Covid19 rates.
There are many other good reasons as well.