[livi]

I am not saying policies per se have no effect at all but different societies and cultures have more or less tendencies to comply.
When the gov in Singapore recommends masks, a large part of the population will comply like one.
Same dictation in a Swedish multiculti suburb not so much.

Complete lockdown will of course keep the spreading to a minimum but as soon as you open up, that particular population will go about their business as they use to. Its just a matter of how long you want to drag it out in time, not least in order to not crash the medical system.

In best case a reasonably effective vaccine will be the game changer. In best case nota bene.

Hence its not very relevant to compare figures between countries, at least not as far as judging their particular strategies.