Quote Originally Posted by noel View Post
Good point. What were the lock-down measures in Peru and Belgium? Also, do you mean early relative to the increasing curve of infections? I thought Belgium were one of the earliest hit countries in Europe, and that's why the infection and death rate got so high before they and others realised that lock-downs were a method of slowing it.
Someone had a go recently at the mention of Peru, but there's a detailed timeline here.
"Experts say Peru's healthcare system was underprepared, leading to more deaths, but several other social and economic factors can help explain why Peru is struggling to contain the outbreak."
A lot of households can't store foodstuffs (no fridges), use of markets and the "informal economy" and overcrowded housing all contributed.

Same kind of timeline for Belgium here.
They had a a partial lockdown on 13 March, followed by a full lockdown on 18 March. In terms of raw numbers (which may not be cross-comparable) deaths as of today in Europe: United Kingdom (42 875), Italy (36 205), Spain (33 124), France (32 825), Belgium (10 211).