We're way behind the pack in fighting Coronavirus

Canada ranks 61st out of 98 countries in fighting this China virus. That’s according to the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank that has been tracking the progress of countries in tackling this virus. Here is their words:

To gauge the relative performance of countries at different points in the pandemic, this Interactive tracked six measures of COVID-19 in the 98 countries for which data was available. The period examined spans the 36 weeks that followed every country’s hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19, using data available to 9 January 2021. Fourteen-day rolling averages of new daily figures were calculated for the following indicators:

• Confirmed cases
• Confirmed deaths
• Confirmed cases per million people
• Confirmed deaths per million people
• Confirmed cases as a proportion of tests
• Tests per thousand people

An average across those indicators was then calculated for individual countries in each period and normalized to produce a score from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). Collectively, these indicators point to how well or poorly countries have managed the pandemic in the 36 weeks that followed their hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19.

New Zealand on this assessment comes first, followed by Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. Interestingly, China was not included because there was insufficient public data available.