The data come from the largest study ever done on hand-washing years ago. You will find similar results in other smaller studies.
So that's roughly 51% of the population walking around NOT doing the most basic thing they should be doing under normal circumstances.
That agrees remarkably well with the Nature study on mask-wearing, which found that there is only 49% compliance.
Modeling COVID-19 scenarios for the United States:
"the national average for self-reported mask wearing was 49% as of 21 September 2020"
I'm assuming it's much less than 49% however, because this data is from self-reporting, not observation.
Be that as it may, the main point is that with nearly half of a given population failing on basic hygiene, it's ridiculous to assume that those same people during a pandemic are going to comply with the litany of things which need to be done to stop the spread of the disease.
You can't get them to wash their hands after using the loo, let alone wear a mask, wear a mask properly, social distance, quarantine themselves when exposed, quarantine themselves when sick, and on and on.
Results have indeed varied from state to state.
Michigan is a great example. We locked down hard at the beginning, closed everything, wore masks, yada yada yada, and suppressed the epidemic quite well until we couldn't stand it anymore. It caught up with us anyway.
And now the UK variant is giving it to us good and hard this spring.
People gonna people. Virus gonna virus.
