A new study in The Lancet Planetary Health finds that cultural attitudes may explain the stark differences in how countries experience the pandemic. by Fran KritzFeb, 23 2021 Top left: An officer asks people to observe lockdown rules in Brighton, England. Bottom left: A protester at a lockdown demonstration in Brussels, Belgium last month. Top right: Malaysian health officers screen passengers with a thermal scanner at Kuala Lumpur Airport in January 2020. Bottom right: Employees eat their lunch in Wuhan, China, in March 2020. Image: Luke Dray/Getty Images; Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images; Mohd Rasfan/AFP; Getty Images On Monday, the U.S. reached a heartbreaking 500,000 deaths from COVID-19.