Even if they were open at full capacity, people are staying at home on their own. Businesses are failing left and right because foot traffic is low.

We've been enjoying outdoor eating at restaurants here, or takeout in the park. I'm hoping case numbers don't skyrocket again soon, but we'll see.

Three months in and there's one certainty: The UK and US public is often clueless about the most basic points...starting with geometric expansion of cases and each person's role in that.

Or the most basic point imaginable...we have 160,000 deaths in the UK+US but we DON'T have multiples of that...because we've shut down.

There's also a strong entitlement culture in both countries.

The restaurants that I care about would be full to capacity if only they were allowed to do so.

Personal freedoms are important in both countries.

Italy, France and Spain had stricter shutdowns but are now pretty much wide open. I’m going to Italy in a couple weeks, and then plan to spend August in France.

Stricter and now more wide open....does this not spur a thought about why they can open up?

A few states in the south (Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama) seem to be heading towards a level of outbreak that risks overwhelming those states health care infrastructure. It's hard to imagine that these states will just let this burn, but that seems to be the stance on it right now.

In general, it seems like the South/West are trending badly right now, while the Northeast/Midwest continue to trend downward. It's really not clear what is causing this regional difference.

Really? NE/Midwest were (and still are, to a great extent) still shut down, while South/West (excluding Pacific) were never totally shut down and opened much earlier. Also, the virus already burned through the hardest hit areas. The sickest people in the worst affected areas are already dead.

I mean, in the Northeast Corridor, basically everything is still shut down, and I can't remember the last time I saw someone not wearing a mask indoors. In contrast, my parents are in Florida, and they say no one is wearing a mask indoors anywhere, really. They're in Naples, and say it's as if the pandemic never existed. Also doesn't help that they're in a conservative, elderly, white bubble of retired Midwesterners who tend to lean strongly Trump.

It doesn’t matter. There are clusters popping up in Rome, Milan, and other places. China had the strictest possible lockdown (much stricter than could ever be implemented in the West), and there are cases showing up again now in Beijing.

No lockdown or adherence to any of these restrictions can eliminate the virus. It will be with us forever, but will mutate as it spreads through the population (most likely to become less deadly to its hosts).

The lockdowns had a viable purpose in preventing a capacity overload in the healthcare system, but we aren’t close to that now, so we just have to get on with it and let it spread, and more vulnerable people should act accordingly.

I don't understand how Florida hasn't been devastated yet given the demographics and apparent lack of general concern. At first there were reports of warmer weather helping slow the spread, but it doesn't seem to be helping Brazil that much.

And you know this...how? Here Texas where freedom comes first or else, people are staying home despite businesses being open and the types of restaurants 'you care about' are hurting.

Or North Carolina, which is recording up to 1500 new cases per day, or South Carolina with its 800 new cases per day. It's hot as balls here.

It's just getting started. Miami shut down early so that slowed the wave a lot, but they never actually stopped the first wave.

To a certain degree there's a correlation between states opening up early and the new wave, but it's not 1-1.

1. California is having a second wave now, and they did a pretty good job early on. Nevada and Oregon are also spiking now.

2 Despite never really locking down (and having a spike related to meat processing plants back in April/May) the plains states aren't really showing any signs of a major wave.

3. Texas and Florida look quite bad right now, and were states that reopened early. But Georgia also reopened early, and isn't really seeing the same rapid increases as its neighbors.

Some people are suggesting the wave in AZ and the South relates to air conditioning. People in the Northeast/Midwest are out of the house more, but staying outside - and COVID-19 doesn't appear to spread well outside. It does spread well in climate-controlled buildings however. That does not explain the spike on the West Coast however.

Plus, not unlike Georgia, Florida has been monkeying around with the numbers to make them the least onerous and most favorable they possibly can.

It is the Fall going into Winter in Brazil / Southern Hemisphere.

Ya and it's still probably as hot in Rio as it is in Miami.

Per capita, the worst-hit parts of Brazil are in the Amazon Basin and other areas right around the equator.

The West Coast seems to have opened much earlier than the Northeast, though. I believe Hollywood reopened last week; in NY they're talking about studios opening in Fall. Restaurants in CA have been opened for at least outdoor dining for weeks, I believe; in NY still no date, though we're hearing early July (June 22 would be the absolute earliest for Phase 2). So it isn't surprising that the West Coast has had a mini-spike.