[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] South Korea has been selected as one of the seven exemplary countries in COVID-19 prevention.
On the 23rd (local time), Bloomberg News named South Korea, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Switzerland as the seven model countries for COVID-19 prevention.
Bloomberg stated, "The seven countries, including South Korea, have shown steady stability against the unpredictable COVID-19," and evaluated that "these countries came closest to being the MVPs of COVID-19 prevention."
It further explained, "These seven countries were able to respond effectively at every stage of the COVID-19 crisis due to their strong healthcare systems and social cohesion."
Bloomberg added that these countries were able to block COVID-19 because their citizens trusted the government and voluntarily followed regulations, and thanks to their relatively high purchasing power, they were able to quickly secure vaccines.
Although most of these countries have never ranked first in Bloomberg's 'COVID-19 Resilience Ranking,' they have consistently performed above average in all aspects such as vaccination rates, combating the Delta variant, and resuming economic activities.
Since November last year, Bloomberg has been ranking 53 countries worldwide every month based on various data including COVID-19 infection and death statistics, vaccination rates, and the lifting of travel restrictions.
Bloomberg pointed out that over the past year, with new variables such as the start of vaccinations and the emergence of the Delta variant, the rankings have changed monthly, but some countries have avoided catastrophic situations through science and technology, social cohesion, and learning effects.
According to Bloomberg, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries that implemented strong lockdown strategies such as quarantine measures and border controls ranked at the top, but now countries that have increased vaccination rates and normalized social and economic activities occupy the top ranks.
Although some countries have re-entered full lockdowns, Bloomberg explains that considering various variables such as the emergence of oral treatments that could control the COVID-19 situation in the long term, attention is now focused on countries showing steady resilience by recovering to normal and effectively reducing mortality rates.
It also added that no country has enjoyed uninterrupted success over the past year due to COVID-19's unpredictability.
New Zealand and Singapore almost succeeded in blocking COVID-19 last year and maintained pre-pandemic conditions, ranking first and being called 'COVID-19 clean zones' for a while.
However, unable to prevent the intrusion of the Delta variant, both countries had to enter full lockdowns again.
The United States briefly held first place in June, and Israel rapidly increased vaccination rates for several months earlier this year and fully lifted prevention measures, but both countries faced a surge in COVID-19 infections centered on the unvaccinated as summer began.
The rankings of lower-tier countries were also volatile.
Mexico and Brazil remained at the bottom early this year as COVID-19 swept the nation, but Latin American countries avoided the worst of the Delta variant thanks to vaccines and high natural immunity rates.
Accordingly, in the second half of this year, Southeast Asian countries with low vaccination rates and a resurgence of infections inherited the lowest rankings.
There are also countries that have never risen above the middle rank in the COVID-19 resilience rankings over the past year.
These include nine countries: Argentina, Iran, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Poland, Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa.
These countries were almost defenseless against COVID-19 and are still struggling due to vaccine shortages.
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