It’s fascinating (and depressing) to watch the difference in response between Asia and the West.

I’m an American living in Myanmar. Here’s what’s being done in my city all before there are any confirmed cases:

- Cancellation of large events.

- Free testing.

- TV notices encouraging social distancing and hand washing.

- Temperature checks and hand sanitizer dispensed at entrances of indoor crowded places like malls, grocery stores, large retail stores (not doing this really baffles me, since it’s so straightforward and practical).

- School closures.

- Travel and border restrictions.

These are simple tactics that every country should be utilizing. Yet when I talk to my friends in US and Europe, they report no temperature checks or hand sanitizer. My family member just flew through SFO and said there were no temperature checks or hand sanitizer being dispensed.

It’s sad and perplexing to me that common sense practical approaches to testing and spread control are not being utilized by many countries, and that closures have been reactive instead of proactive. It’s unfortunate that the UK is focused on actively ignoring practical efforts to control spread.