1/n This is an important question. The *main* answer is, median age of those infected in Germany. There are lots of factors hidden behind that, but that's the main factor.
The next main factor: quality of Germany's healthcare.
The next main factor: quality of Germany's healthcare.
2/n As you point out, @AminTheReader, #Germany has a relatively higher #COVID19 infection rate. In fact it was *officially* higher than #Britain's, till April 28.
(officially only; the UK was way under-testing).
(officially only; the UK was way under-testing).
3/Like many places, #COVID19 started in Germany w/ the relatively well-off; people returning from skiing holidays in Italy. But actions Germany undertook *after* that were crucial. They meant median age of infected stayed lower than in many other countries
4/ Next, @AminTheReader: Germany proactively started #cocooning those in care-homes. And did it well. Unlike the UK, Sweden or New York state, US. This was *crucial*
Another way of saying this: Germany pays carers better than Sweden or the UK. So care-staff are less of a vector
Another way of saying this: Germany pays carers better than Sweden or the UK. So care-staff are less of a vector
5/ *Just* as in the USA, meat plants were found to be a problem with #COVID19 in Germany; not as a vector to customers, but staff directly hit by COVID_19 (& for roughly the same reasons). Germany's federal response? To immediately enforce all meat workers be given permanent jobs
6/ You may wonder, @AminTheReader, why paying carers better cuts down #COVID19 transmission. Because *unlike* the UK or Sweden, carers moved around different care-homes & jobs, just to financially survive, much less & less rapidly --> much less infection!
7/ You might wonder why making sure any meat plant worker has a *permanent* job means less infected. It's because they get paid better, have more job security, don't have to sleep 8 or more to a flat, etc., meaning less exposure.
8/ Then, @AminTheReader: #healthcare! Comprehensive, universal, legally demanded, and relatively (very) affordable in Germany. Also, very high per capita % of ICU beds, including HIGH % of ECMO units.
9/ ECMO is not a cure-all. But by heavens, when medicos argue about the relative merits of intubating immediately that #COVID19 patient over there, having an ECMO unit free on site is a huge blessing.
10/ #Testing testing testing, @AminTheReader! Germany published its recipe for PCR #COVID19 testing on 17 January 2020, & manufacturing started fast. You can see this as a huge benefit of private industry (it was), or just as, what works, works (my preferred interpretation).
11/ Mass-testing started very early in Germany; the fact that it usually didn't cost the end-user anything, *at very most* $200, meant people don't pass up the chance to be tested if needed. Plus! Tests made in Germany were actually *reliable*, which is more than in other places
12/ Open, *honest* lines of medical & governmental communication, @AminTheReader. In Germany, info was given out speedily, was quickly adaptive, & above all was logical & consistent (*cough* *cough* not looking at certain UK & US epidemiology & public-health people *cough*).
13/ Reasonably fast governmental help for firms, businesses, workers & the poor in Germany, to help cope with the #COVID19 quarantines, @AminTheReader. Because NO-ONE likes starving to death for the cause, do they now? So help means more compliance.
theguardian.com/world/2020/jun…
theguardian.com/world/2020/jun…
14/ @dystopianexp raises a valid point. Germany *differed* Germany-wide on #quarantine responses to #COVID19; some states were far harsher than others. I live in NRW, a state whose governor is vocally in favor of less restrictive measures.
15/ You will find, @AminTheReader, that some immediately object, & say Germany got lucky at the start, & was a tad indecisive at the begin of #COVID19. That is all true, and yet Germany's response got better faster, & kept improving.
16/ Availability of #PPE, especially to healthcare workers! JUST as in the UK or the USA, Germany got caught on the hop, @AminTheReader, regarding PPE (because supply chains! Outsourcing! etc.) but governmentally recovered fast, and got PPE out to those who needed it.
17/ Right at the moment, @AminTheReader, there are various cranks (some quite genuinely SCIENTISTS, some even epidemiologists; they're still cranks, sometimes crackpots) busily asserting Germans have better immunity to #COVID19, etc.. To which I say:
Pure, unscientific bollocks.
Pure, unscientific bollocks.
18/ There are some more factors, @AminTheReader, and I haven't covered all of them by far. But better immunity to #COVID19 in Germany is just NOT one of them. This can easily be scientifically shown (median age! etc.). Later I will rip apart the latest quack offerings.
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19/ In relation to care-staff:
