> Every single country that has had any success containing the virus ... has had rigorous continuous testing to contain the spread
That's demonstrably false. There are numerous prominent examples in fact.
Taiwan is not doing a high rate of testing at all, they're most certainly not doing constant ubiquitous testing. Their per capita test rate is 1/7 that of the US.
Singapore and South Korea are not doing constant ubiquitous testing. The US has already tested at a higher rate than South Korea and will pass Singapore shortly given the continued ramp in US testing. Both are held up as marvels of virus containment.
Japan has barely done any testing. They're seeing a small spike in cases now, however they were not earlier (this is four plus months after the outbreak began and Japan is next to China). Their deaths from Covid are commonly 1/50 to 1/150 the per capita rate of the US and other higher outbreak nations, while doing 1/10 to 1/15 the testing. The only explanation is either that they're covering up ten thousand deaths, or the other non-testing approaches they've utilized work well. Compare Japan to Germany on Covid deaths - again, despite Japan being next to China - and then look at the testing rates. Now explain that.
Finland is testing below the US rate and has contained the outbreak to a stellar degree. That's because Helsinki is colder than Stockholm and Copenhagen. The same reason Moscow didn't get slammed until more recently as the weather began to warm up. There are other factors that impact the spread of the virus, including the rate of social activity and high temperatures (over ~60F / ~15.5C). We know this from several studies that have proven the role of temperature in the spread of SARS and SARS-CoV-2; as well as understanding how the spread benefits from greater social activity (which doesn't occur at the same rate in super cold climates).
Greece has a very low number of Covid deaths and no evidence of serious outbreak this entire time. Their testing rate is 1/3 that of the US. And they're wedged between Turkey and Italy. Much like southern Italy, they've been heavily shielded by their climate. Nobody wants to talk about this of course, it's the Mexico / Texas / San Diego / Baghdad / Lagos effect in action.
Iraq isn't seeing any consequential outbreak, thanks to its climate. Whereas Iran right next door got smashed, because Tehran has an entirely different climate from Baghdad.
Thailand and Vietnam are both testing at a very low rate, and there has been zero evidence of serious outbreaks in either country, despite the proximity to China. That's thanks to their hotter climates.
Nigeria is barely testing at all, with zero evidence of a consequential outbreak there. No crushing of their healthcare system with cases or deaths; no huge spike in deaths, hospitalizations or ICU cases. There are numerous countries across Africa seeing similar low outbreak results, with very little testing.
Colombia isn't seeing a consequential outbreak, their testing rate is super low. They're not seeing a healthcare crush either. They've contained it so far without a high rate of testing.
India and Pakistan were supposed to get buried by SARS-CoV-2 cases. It hasn't happened, week after week goes by and the predictions continue to fail to come true. They're barely doing any testing at all. There's zero evidence in either country of a massive outbreak or crushing number of ICU cases swamping their healthcare systems. It's because of how hot their cities are. I've yet to see a single other good explanation for why India isn't buried in Covid deaths by now. India isn't seeing the virus hit for the same reason Africa hasn't.
Egypt is barely doing any testing. Cairo should have millions of cases of the virus and a huge number of deaths by now. They should have 20,000 dead people from Covid at this point just in Cairo. Where is it? The Cairo metro has 20 million people. It's not far from Italy, Turkey, or Iran. Guess what? It's very hot in Cairo.
And if you want to see a belligerent demonstration of the climate impact in action: tell me that Florida has been dramatically more responsible in their behavior than Belgium has (or France, or Italy, or Spain, or the UK, or the Netherlands, or Switzerland), to warrant having a per capita Covid mortality rate 1/12th that of Belgium. If Florida had New York's climate, Florida would have 20k Covid deaths by now. Instead they have a mere 1,066 (and Florida has a lot of old people) despite doing almost everything wrong.
