Coronavirus infections in the United States also began a steep climb in early March but instead of falling in June surged upwards to some of the country’s worst ever.

Malaysia is just the latest success story in East Asia. Most of its neighbors have stopped the spread on COVID-19 because of several advantages missing in the United States, analysts say. Asians proactively protect one another from disease and trust government officials, who in turn take seriously the risk of respiratory disease spilling over from China.

“I think it’s cultural,” said Alan Chong, Associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “People here are still collectivist in orientation of thought, meaning even if a certain government is despised, they will still listen to instructions especially if they are reasonable,” Chong said. “The idea of stay at home, people will obey because the collective good is explained to them in a self-evident way.”