Comments by "Xyz Same" (@xyzsame4081) on "Fauci Recounts The 'Disinfectant' Moment" video.

@smkh2890 Belgium is a densely populated country, small BUT it headquarters most of the EU institutions. They see a LOT of international travel, from all over the world not only Europe, also the lobbyists from all over the globe. And they count very conservatively. Especially in spring when many countries likely undercounted their deaths - they erred on the side of "it was CoVid-19".
1
@smkh2890 "Brussels" is the capital of Belgium and is not responsible for an EU wide response. The EU headquarter is in Brussels, other important instutions are in other cities / countries. The member countries coordinated - to a degree. that was voluntarily, but of course that was a rational response to a PANdemic.
1
@smkh2890 For the most part the nations did their own thing, and had to adminstrate and finance it. BUT the nations still coordinated much better than for instance the 50 U.S. states. (and the cooperation also included non-member states). Also: Germany, and Austria took in patients from Italy, and Germany took in patients from France - in spring once they saw they could controll the numbers, and their hospitals would not be overwhelmed (a few weeks after the lockdown mid March started). That was a coordination between countries that have close relationships, and happen to be EU member states. In summer things looked good in Europe (except for the U.K. and Sweden - there were travel warnings). European coutries (most of them are EU member states or associated with the EU) opened for tourism from countries deemed safe. So not the U.S. I think Croatia (or Slovenia, not sure which one) broke ranks and allowed U.S. visitors (they had to stay in the country, and they asked for testing on arrival. I think little Croatia or little Slovenia wanted to boost their tourism and the country is small so fishing in the large U.S. market could make a dent for them. Some wealthy U.S. citizens that otherwise would have opted for France, Italy or Switzerland took the offer. They enjoyed summer vacations with little risk (less than in the touristic areas of the U.S) and not many restrictions. The food is good, the scenery and towns idyllic, clean beaches, no sharks, sunny weather... Of course normally it wouldn't be a stretch to visit other countries, like a trip to a city in Italy or Austria (Vienna). It is not that far. Or at least neighbour country Slovenia (or Croatia). But this time tourists had to stay put in the country. All other nations stayed the course, no U.S. tourists allowed (which was a bummer because they are a considerable segment among the tourists in some cities / regions, especially iconic cities in Italy and France). Spain allowed U.K. tourists (they are important for their tourism and many retired Brits live in Spain), but they had to stop that in July, they imported too many infections. The tests do not find all infections, especially not in the first 5 days. Other nations may not have banned them (they did not get U.K. tourists in masses anyway). So the nations did their own thing in many respects.
1
@smkh2890 European countries = sovereign nations are not comparable to the U.S. states. (but the countries do have states, kantons, regions, provinces - some of those are as independent as the U.S. states). The European countries (also those that are not in the EU) voluntarily coordinate better with each other _where that makes sense. The states / provinces of the respective countries for sure coordinate, or I should say: the federal government did not neglect and abandon them. Switzerland has Kantons that are relatively independend, Austria has 9 and Germany has 16 states - and they coordinated with the federal government. Other countries also have states, regions, departments, provinces - and nowhere did they have the adverserial, fractured, inconsistent, uncoordinated DOMESTIC response like in the U.S. And nowhere left the federal government the states or provinces out in the cold. Trump had a meeting with govenors (R and D) in spring, they flew home and had gotten no promises for any relief package. In Germany the "govenors" of the states met with the Chancellor Merkel. They did not yet know the details, but it was obvious that there would be help. They did not have to face their voters to tell them to shelter down, becoming unemployed or having to close their biz - and no compensations or subsidies. The federal governments have the purse. States / provinces / regions get a lot of their funding from the federal governments. They cannot finance a one in hundred year disaster. A global epidemic = Pandemic cannot be fought by local politicians. (Gov. De Santis in Florida, the coward left it to the MAYORS to impose restrictions on biz, instead of taking responsibility and creating a level playing field for all businesses in Florida in touristic regions). Regional / local governments do not have the laws (in the U.S. the Defense Production Act) or the money or the institutional support (federal agencies comparable to the CDC) to handle a pandemic. So even if one U.S. state did the right thing - the other states could easily undo their efforts and they got the infections with visitors. The problem is: if Finland or Switzerland have a crazy government that does not get its act together and does not even try - the other countries can close the borders. In the U.S. it is harder to deny the citizens free movement. The U.S. states behave like independent countries and the U.S. citizens travel (a LOT) like it is one country. In Europe most travel is tourism. Thanksgiving or Christmas in the U.S. - a comparable scenario would be people that fly in, drive over from France, Spain and Germany to meet in in the parent's house in Denmark. 4 countries 4 different languages, justice and tax systems, ... In the U.S. people move from Delaware to Florida, or from California to Texas, ... In Europe they would emigrate (with much less miles to travel) and would have to learn a new language. Chances are that the families are in the same country. it is easier to ask people to stay IN the country and thus to control some aspects of spread, when they go to school, work and have family in the country. Which is the problem of Belgium, they cannot shut down the EU administration and they continued to get a LOT of international travellers. The ratio of normal Belgium citizen living in Brussels versus international traveller is very disadvantageous for Brussels. it is worse and they have it harder than even New York. Because Brussels is a much smaller city than New York. I think that explains their high death numbers (a lot comes from spring though). Comparable countries with comparable culture (healthcare, attitude of citizens, wealth, style of governance) fared much better: Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, even France which is also a neighbour of Belgium.
1