SA scores in the bottom 20 out of 98, on it’s Covid-19 response

South Africa has been ranked among some of the poorest performing countries in terms of its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, ranking in the bottom 20 out of nearly 100 countries.

Australian think tank, the Lowy Institute, this week released the findings of its Covid-19 performance index, which measured the relative performance of 98 countries and how they responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. The assessment examines the 36-week period after the country’s 100th confirmed Covid-19 case, using indicators such as confirmed cases, confirmed deaths, and testing to produce a score from 0 – being the worst – to 100 – being the best performing.

South Africa didn’t exactly shoot the lights out, coming in at number 82 out of the 98 countries scored. The country can, however, take solace in the fact that international economic powerhouse, the United States ranked 94th with Brics partner Brazil scoring the lowest.

Countries that came out top were New Zealand, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The index found that developing countries were able to cope with the initial outbreak of the pandemic, which gave them a head start to put preventative measures in place.

“Richer countries were quickly overwhelmed when the virus first emerged. International air travel accelerated virus transmission from abroad in these countries. By contrast, many governments in developing countries had more lead – and often a greater sense of urgency – to put in place preventative measures after the scale and severity of the global crisis became known,” said the institute.

Countries that were ranked lower were not well coordinated in approaching the pandemic, Stellenbosch University epidemiologist Dr Jo Barnes said.

“The US is a good example that not only is it about access to resources, but it is a healthy, well-functioning state of the governmental structure and political system. The US is at the bottom of the table and South Africa is so low down because our government’s approach is not well coordinated and not well planned.”

A supporter of US President Donald Trump holds a sign outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 5, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland.  (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)

“The one thing Donald Trump managed to do is to divide America dreadfully. They are now paying the price,” she said.

The index found that systemic factors, such as political system, size and economic development could not solely account fully for the different global responses.

“The results point to some of the strengths and vulnerabilities stemming from the way different countries are set to deal with a public policy change of this scale,” said the institute.

Barnes however believed South Africa’s response to the pandemic of imposing several bans was not the most efficient manner of handling the pandemic.

Hobie Beach is one of the beaches in Plettenberg Bay that has been fenced off by the Bitou Municipality in an effort to curb Covid-19. Photo: Yolande Stander

“They are not managing the pandemic but they are just policing it. There is a difference between managing the situation by teaching people to do the right thing, instead of banning stuff. Poor management comes from disorganised government,” Barnes said.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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