Context: India seeks a New Zealand, Vietnam top COVID-19 performance index, India at 86
Key highlights:
New Zealand and Vietnam were ranked the best performing countries in their response to the pandemic according to a COVID-19 “performance index” put together by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, which sought to assess the impact of geography, political systems and economic development in assessing outcomes.
The index, which was based on six different indicators including
confirmed cases,
confirmed deaths,
cases per million people,
deaths per million people,
cases as a proportion of tests, and
tests per thousand people.
Fewer reported cases and deaths, both in aggregate and per capita terms, point towards a better response to the virus.
More tests conducted on a per capita basis reveal a more accurate picture of the extent of the pandemic at the national level.
Lower rates of positive tests, meanwhile, indicate greater degrees of control over the transmission of COVID-19.
India ranked 86 out of 98 countries, while the United States placed 94 and Brazil at the bottom of the index.
New Zealand and Vietnam led the list, followed by Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus in the top five.
Sri Lanka was the best faring nation in South Asia, ranking 10, while the Maldives was at 25, Pakistan at 69, Nepal at 70, and Bangladesh at 84.
China was not included “due to a lack of publicly available data on testing”.
Regional response:
Assessing regional responses, it found that although the outbreak began in China, the Asia-Pacific region fared the best, while Europe and the U.S. were initially overwhelmed.
Europe, “registered the greatest improvement over time of any region” before succumbing to a second wave which it attributed to more open borders.