Dealing pandemic effectively: India falls behind Pakistan in Covid Resilience Ranking

(Karachi) India lags far behind Pakistan among countries that have handled the coronavirus pandemic most effectively, as per a Covid Resilience Ranking issued by Bloomberg.

As per a survey published in The Print, India has been ranked 34th among 53 countries in the world while Pakistan stood at 27th position. The survey gives India a resilience score of 58.1 while Pakistan has a score of 61.7.

New Zealand has been rated as top performing country related to COVID-19 resilience with a score of 85.4. The survey placed Bangladesh at 24th position with a score of 64.2.

India is also placed below other Asian countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. In all, 12 Asian countries have scored better than India in handling the coronavirus pandemic.

The report compiled by Bloomberg took into consideration the fact that where the virus was handled most effectively with the least amount of disruption to business and society. A survey of 53 economies of over 200 billion dollars on some key metrics such as growth in virus cases to overall mortality rates, testing capabilities and vaccine supply agreements, capacity of local healthcare systems, the impact of lockdowns on these economies, and citizens’ freedom of movement.

The report maintained that India sees 93 cases per 0.1 million people in a month while the country’s fatality rate has been 1.2 percent.

The survey revealed that Pakistan performed better due to its “relative remoteness” and younger average population that has kept the overall mortality rates down.