Governance
Covid-19 Performance Index
- 30 Jan 2021
- 4 min read
Why in News
India has been ranked 86th in a “Covid-19 Performance Index” comprising 98 countries.
Key Points
- About the Index
- Institution Involved:
- Covid-19 Performance Index was compiled by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, which sought to measure the response of countries to the Pandemic.
- The Institute also took into account the impact of geography, political systems and economic development in assessing outcomes.
- Covid-19 Performance Index was compiled by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, which sought to measure the response of countries to the Pandemic.
- Parameter Used:
- Six Indicators: 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 an accurate picture of the extent of the pandemic at the national level.
- Lower rates of positive tests indicate greater degrees of control over the transmission of Covid-19.
- Assessing Method:
- Assessed 98 countries in the 36 weeks that followed their hundredth case.
- China was not included in the study because all of its testing rates are not publicly available.
- An average across six indicators was calculated for individual countries in each period and normalised to produce a score from 0 (worst performing) to 100 (best performing).
- Assessed 98 countries in the 36 weeks that followed their hundredth case.
- Institution Involved:
- Results:
- Top Countries:
- New Zealand topped the rankings closely followed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus.
- Bottom Countries:
- Brazil stood at the bottom of the index. The USA was the fifth-worst performing country, it stood at 94 out of 98 countries.
- South Asian Countries:
- Sri Lanka was the best performing nation in South Asia, ranking 10, while the Maldives was at 25, Pakistan at 69, Nepal at 70, and Bangladesh at 84.
- Performance of India:
- India ranked 86th in the Covid-19 Performance Index out of 98 countries.
- At 24.3, India’s average was lower than the region it belongs to — Asia-Pacific — which scored 58.2 and ranked best in the region-wise evaluation.
- Top Countries:
- Trend Analysis:
- Smaller countries performed better: In general, countries with smaller populations, cohesive societies, and capable institutions have a comparative advantage in dealing with a global crisis such as a pandemic.
- Smaller countries with fewer than 10 million people consistently outperformed their larger counterparts throughout 2020.
- Leadership Mattered: Levels of economic development and differences in political systems didn’t have as much of an impact on coronavirus response as expected.
- Proper management of the pandemic was not much dependent on the regime type but whether citizens trust their leaders, and whether those leaders preside over a competent and effective state.
- The relatively ‘low-tech’ nature of the health measures used to mitigate the spread of the virus created a more level playing field between developed and developing countries.
- The deployment of vaccines, however, could give richer countries an advantage.
- Smaller countries performed better: In general, countries with smaller populations, cohesive societies, and capable institutions have a comparative advantage in dealing with a global crisis such as a pandemic.
