[svara]

What I'm saying is that this particular explanation for the apparent difference in fatality ratios of Coronavirus infections is a fringe one, and it's not right to point to that as an example of sentiment in Germany in general.

I'm not disputing any of the other things that you wrote. Distancing started in Germany on March 12, at that point it was just a legally non-binding recommendation, it became legally binding on March 16. The timing is similar to what happened in many other European countries with the exception of Italy.

Based on that, it's fair to say that the seriousness was downplayed initially, but that is pretty much universal. We knew this was going to be a global problem by mid February at the very latest.