Which countries have achieved success with their measures against Coronavirus?
A year has passed since Covid-19 spread, and a country’s wealth, scientific prowess, and long history of public health success aren’t necessary for a successful response to Covid-19. Even though the U.S. has all of the advantages, it was one of the worst nations to deal with the pandemic. The governments and people of other developed countries that initially did well, such as Canada and some European nations, faltered after the second or third outbreak because they got tired of implementing effective measures. After the Ebola epidemic hit in 2014, Liberia was one of the first countries to implement rapid testing at airports, complete contact tracing, and quarantine. Several other African countries, including Senegal and Uganda, have also responded swiftly, expertly, comprehensively to recent disease outbreaks. In the first weeks of the pandemic, South Korea doubled its number of Covid-19 tests per capita compared to other countries, as it became clear that people without symptoms could spread Covid-19 (1). Along with that, researchers are currently working on determining the effectiveness of the unprecedented measures implemented worldwide to limit Coronavirus spread. Governments will need this information as they design strategies to return life to normal while keeping transmission low to prevent second outbreaks. The impact of control measures on individual countries is already being studied by researchers using data from those countries (2).
In addition, women are getting ahead of the curve to demonstrate how to manage a messy patch for human families from Iceland to Taiwan and from Germany to New Zealand. This pandemic also shows that women can hold their own in the Houses of State, including Finland, Iceland, and Denmark (3).
66 million confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported to date, resulting in over 1.5 million deaths as countries struggle to save lives without compromising livelihoods. Even with these alarming statistics and bleak outlooks, some countries have shown early success against the pandemic – rich and not-so-rich, big and small. Some countries faced the pandemic with unique country-specific factors, but their role was generally evident in one or more of these factors (4).
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/which-countries-have-responded-best-to-covid-19-11609516800
- https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01248-1
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/?sh=5494064f3dec
- https://www.un.org/en/desa/three-things-made-these-countries-more-successful-fighting-covid
Hey Daniela,
Your topic is very interesting as it is a current event! I also love how your research is very thorough and clearly written which makes it easy to follow.
After reading our blog post, I’m wondering for those countries that did achieve success with their measures against Coronavirus, did they all use similar methods? Or were there different methods used based on each country’s situation, like the financial situation or the type of government they have? I think it would be cool if this could be touched on, as it can add another layer of depth to your inquiry question:)
Overall, I thought this was a very informative blog and I look forward to your future blogs, good luck!