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4) Israel

Historically, Israel has done things smartly, so everyone credited the Israelis’ disciplined mask-wearing with their mild waves for the first few months of the pandemic. In fact, despite having a mild wave in the early summer and a substantial wave in the fall of 2020 after the masks and strict enforcement thereof were in place, the WSJ cited “experts” on November 1, basically saying that lockdowns didn’t work but the masks did. “Infections are dropping sharply despite less stringent rules and more defiance of them, likely because of more widespread use of masks,” wrote the Journal. Well, after “working” for a few weeks (after “not having worked” in the prior waves), they went back to not working, as Israel experienced its worst wave yet in December and January. Eventually, cases ground to a halt, as they did in most places after the winter spread, and Israel finally relaxed the mandate. Another wave came back, and the country reinstated the mask mandate on June 24. Yet despite the mandate and one of the highest vaccination rates, cases have increased tenfold since June 24 and are higher than they were at this time last year with zero vaccination.