IN ALL  the information about Covid on the Internet, I have found nothing so far that really explains why some countries are heavily hit and others have relatively few cases. Take, for instance, Spain and Portugal. This is from a new website, Coronacircus:

For example, let’s compare Spain and Portugal. The two countries are neighbors, juxtaposed on the Iberian Peninsula. Spain has 92 people per square kilometer, Portugal 114.5; the latter is therefore slightly more densely populated. They enjoy a similar level of development. They share a border of 1,214 km, the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union. One study says Portugal was quicker to take measures to combat Covid-19, but actually both national governments declared the highest level of alert at the same time (12th March for Portugal, 13-14th March for Spain). Spain’s restriction on international travel is to this day much more restrictive than Portugal. And yet, as of this writing, Portugal has 11.57 deaths per million inhabitants, versus 145.6 deaths per million inhabitants in Spain. In other words, Spain has suffered, so far, more than 12.5 times more deaths than its neighbor Portugal when adjusted for population.

What the heck is going on here?

Please follow and like us: