NZ top for Covid resilience

AUCKLAND: New Zealand is the best place in the world to be in the coronavirus era, according to the new Bloomberg Covid resilience ranking.

The Bloomberg report sought to answer the question: where has the virus been handled most effectively with the least amount of disruption to business and society?

It ranked 53 countries with economies of more than $200 billion on 10 key metrics relating to impact of Covid19 and the quality of life.

‘‘New Zealand tops the ranking as of November 23, thanks to decisive, swift action,’’ the report said.

‘‘Early on, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Government said it would target ‘elimination’ of the virus, pouring resources into testing, contact tracing and a centralised quarantine strategy to snuff out local transmission.

‘‘Having largely achieved it, New Zealanders are basically living in a world without Covid.’’

Overall, New Zealand had a resilience score of 85.4, ahead of Japan on 85, Taiwan on 82.9 and South Korea on 82.3. They were followed by western countries Finland (82), Norway (81.6) and Australia (81.2).

Sweden, which has been under intense scrutiny for following a herd immunity strategy but has suffered a recent surge in cases, was 16th on 68.7.

The US was 18th (66.5), its ranking boosted because of access to vaccines, the UK was 28th (61.5), and the lowestranked of the 53 countries was Mexico (37.6). — The New Zealand Herald