Feb 25 - Mardi Gras
https://wgno.com/news/health/coronavirus/a-list-of-curfews-in-effect-across-louisiana/
Mar 15 - schools close
Formal curfews went into effect starting Mar 24 some areas April 2 others, further reducing community exposure:
https://wgno.com/news/health/coronavirus/a-list-of-curfews-in-effect-across-louisiana/
(for fun:)
Louisiana police apologize for using siren from ‘The Purge’ to signal coronavirus curfew
Cops said they didn’t know the alarm was used in the dystopian movie franchise.
..
NY -
NY had a double whammy. Lots of Chinese fled Wuhan and filled up NY hotels or returned to Chinatown communities.(comparable to ‘tourists’ count at Mardi Gras? ) So CCPVirus was circulating into community spread from Wuhan by late Feb.
Then you had the superspreader from Iran on Mar 1,
Cuomo telling people to get out and live their lives, Mar 2,
The lawyer in Rochelle Mar 3, the case at the Racetrack,
the European rush March 11 and Cuomo’s half-hearted ban of 500 people on Mar 12 compounding exposure risk.
March 11 - Trump European Travel Ban - rush of people back to the US, specifically, NYC
https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-outbreak-york-mainly-originated-040553132.html
NYers started getting out of state quietly to beat the rush by Mar 15 when schools closed...
https://news.yahoo.com/york-citys-poorer-neighborhoods-hit-150559763.html
Common factor: schools closing forced more people to stay home and take social distancing seriously. Reinforced by layoffs, stores closing, curfews.
of course, as always, just guessing
“Jack Dorsey Pledges $1 Billion To Fight COVID-19 As A Number Of CEOs Step Up By Taking Pay Cuts And Promising No Layoffs”
FILE UNDER - BORDERS SAVE LIVES
In March, more than 150,000 Afghans spontaneously returned from Iran, one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus - thousands more arrive daily.
Tens of thousands have also recently returned from Pakistan - among the worst affected countries in South Asia.
Officials are struggling to control this unprecedented movement across what have always been porous and often lawless borders.
So far, Afghanistan is not among countries severely hit by the virus, reporting 423 cases and 14 deaths, but this influx has raised fears of much higher transmission rates.
“With the numbers of likely infected people who have crossed the border, I expect the numbers of cases and deaths [in Afghanistan] to go up significantly,” says Natasha Howard, associate professor of global health and conflict at the National University of Singapore.
https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-porous-borders-where-virus-024815363.html
Thanks for your thoughts blueplue! All valid in my estimation. Another factor, of course, is the data reporting itself. On 3/26, NY’s data begin to stabilize, which may indicate additional scrutiny/emphasis of the process went into effect.