It might be cultural. It also might be that populations with less exposure of coronaviruses in general (remember the common cold is caused by a coronavirus) over the course of tens of millennia (though this particular one seems to be robust in warm climates, coronaviruses in general are more prevalent in cold climates) are fairing worse due to having evolved less resistance. It is, of course, highly politically incorrect to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to human populations (a fact that shows the left's claim to being "the party of science" is complete rubbish -- when science actually matters to policy, they'll throw it over for ideology every time).
