NEW ZEALAND'S RESPONSE TO COVID-19 RANKED BEST IN THE WORLD
New Zealand has been rated the best country with the best response in handling the Covid-19 epidemic in the whole world.
"New Zealand tops the ranking as of November 23 thanks to decisive, swift action," the Bloomberg report said.
Bloomberg Covid-19 resilience ranking report sought to answer the question: where has the virus been handled most effectively with the least amount of disruption to business and society?
Bloomberg has ranked 53 countries with economies of more than $200 billion. The countries have been rated on 10 key metrics relating to the impact of Covid-19 and the quality of life.
"Early on, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Government said it would target the 'elimination' of the virus, pouring resources into testing, contact tracing and a centralised quarantine strategy to snuff out local transmission. Having largely achieved it, New Zealanders are basically living in a world without Covid-19. The nation has seen just a handful of infections in the community in recent months, and live music and large scale social events are back on,” the report continued.
New Zealand received a resilience score of 85.4. The island nation has had two Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people, a 0% fatality rate, a 0% positive test rate, only five total deaths per 1 million people, and access to two Covid-19 vaccines. Measuring them on quality of life, New Zealand has scored an overall 22 for lockdown severity, which come from a 0.3% for community mobility, 83 for universal healthcare coverage, and 0.92 on the human development index. The 6.1% drop in forecast 2020 GDP growth was also a factor in the overall score.
"The small island nation locked down on March 26 before a single Covid-related death had occurred, shutting its borders despite the economy's heavy reliance on tourism. Though its tourism industries are suffering, New Zealand is also well positioned for a vaccine with two supply deals in place, including one for the shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech SE," The report stated.
Following New Zealand was Japan with a score of 85, in third was Taiwan with a score of 82.9 and fourth was South Korea on 82.3. Ranked in fifth place was the first western country, Finland, with 82, followed by Norway with 81.6 and Australia with 81.2.
Sweden, who has suffered a recent surge in cases and who has been under intense scrutiny for following a herd immunity strategy, was ranked in 16th place with a score of 68.7.
The US ranking has been boosted due to access to vaccines and was placed in 18th with a score of 66.5. Following in 28th place with a score of 61.5 was the UK. The report also noted that the two countries (US and UK) were ranked as the most prepared for a pandemic, however they have been repeatedly overwhelmed by Covid-19 infections.
The country which was ranked the lowest of the 53 countries in the report was Mexico with 37.6.
"Success in containing Covid-19 with the least disruption appears to rely less on being able to order people into submission, but on governments engendering a high degree of trust and societal compliance. New Zealand emphasised communication from the start, with a four-level alert system that gave people a clear picture of how and why the Government would act as the outbreak evolved.
"The lack of an effective response to the virus by the US has been one of the most stunning developments of the pandemic. The superpower leads the world in cases and deaths, and its reaction to the crisis has lagged from the start, from a shortage of medical equipment and PPE supplies, to the absence of co-ordination on testing and tracing efforts and the politicisation of mask wearing. Like New Zealand, life has largely reverted to normal, though borders remain shut. Taiwan has so far, however, failed to ink any bilateral deals for the most progressed vaccines."