On Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:21:16 -0400, FromTheRafters wrote:

Yes, also evidence has also been scarce that wearing a mask (source
control) has helped a single individual to avoid getting infected. It
is about how large groups of individuals, not individual individuals,
respond to such schemes that matters. Some countries have fewer crazy
people per capita than the USA does, and as such can do the right thing
(whatever they think that is) in greater numbers.

I wouldn't characterize the USA as "crazy people" (although plenty do
exist, but I've been around the world, and trust me, the Japananese are
crazy in some ways, as are the Germans, as are the Italians, etc.).

What I would agree with you upon is that the USA is completely different in
terms of privacy and trust in government than many other countries, which
is what was clearly stated in the articles previously cited that compared,
oh, say, Iceland (40%) to the uptake forecast in the USA (10%).

The USA is a "melting pot" of hugely variant cultures, with a primal
history of "freedom" of both migration and of thought, and of a common
dislike for needless government and corporate surveillance.

o What Ever Happened to Digital Contact Tracing?
https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-ever-happened-digital-contact-tracing

"It will be an uphill battle even to hit the 10 percent mark in America"

"Under a range of assumptions, the percentage of the population needed
to be enrolled in automated contact tracing for outbreak control (Re1)
was estimated (eg, 40%-60% uptake required for Re1, assuming a 30% mean
transmission probability per contact event, if 75%-95% actively confirm
when they get infected"

However, in some cohesive communities, manual contact tracing has worked:
o Contact Tracing for Native Americans in Rural Arizona
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2023540

They did it the "old way", which makes sense, given the inhabitants don't
all likely have great cellphone use and they're all known to each other and
they likely don't travel all that much, etc., which is to say they're a
special case.
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