Coronavirus deaths are passing their peak in many countries, with millions of people who have been locked down for months venturing out of their homes on non-essential trips for the first time.
While nations such as the US and the UK are coming out of lockdown having seen huge numbers of people die of this disease, life is already back to normal in New Zealand and Vietnam has not recorded a single death. And with the virus taking hold in North America and Western Europe but not affecting Africa to anything like the same extent, it is upending old notions about the respective abilities of “First World” countries and their former colonies.
So what can countries learn from one another as we all creep back towards normal and try to ward off a second wave? Since the pandemic began, The Conversation has published thousands of articles on the subject of COVID-19. Here’s a selection from this vast new archive that highlights different approaches to controlling the pandemic around the world.
Closing borders
International borders began to slam shut around the world soon after the WHO declared that coronavirus was a pandemic on March 11. Doing so changed the trajectory of the virus in many countries, helping them avoid the worst effects.
Australia. Prime minister Scott Morrison announced the closure of Australia’s borders and the establishment of a mandatory 14-day quarantine period – in hotels, not in homes – for all incoming travellers regardless of nationality in late March. Stephen Duckett and Anika Stobart explain that this largely prevented the virus circulating in the community, making sure the majority of COVID-19 cases to date are linked to overseas travel.
Vietnam. Closing borders with China but also between cities within the country has been a vital part of Vietnam’s world-beating coronavirus strategy. Robyn Klingler-Vidra and Ba-Linh Tran say that by instituting a self-funded 14-day quarantine in government-assigned facilities for anyone entering certain cities, like Danang, and fencing off villages, the country has managed to keep deaths to zero.
Contact tracing
Countries with the most successful coronavirus strategies are those that have had a strong test, track and trace system in place from early on. Those that didn’t have paid the price.
UK. A test and trace system launched in the UK on May 28, much later than other countries. Pandemic modeller Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths says the failure to fully test and trace positive cases from the beginning of the epidemic is one of the reasons why the UK’s death toll is so high, and public health expert Andrew Lee explains how the country might be able to turn things around.
South Carolina. The US is the worst affected country in the world, and there have been criticisms of many states for reopening too soon after lockdown. But Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious diseases expert and member of the government’s coronavirus task force, has singled out the state South Carolina as a success story when it comes to fighting the virus. Jenny Meredith explains how the state’s contract tracing strategy paid off.
Surveillance
The need to bring down infection rates is often at odds with the desire for privacy during this pandemic. Contact tracing apps have raised concerns in the UK, Canada and Australia. But some countries are using surveillance to get ahead of the pandemic.
China. Much has been made of China’s state-sponsored lockdown and mass testing efforts. But the country has a relatively small state bureaucracy, writes Qi Chen, and has relied on private surveillance, including networks of security guards, to enforce its measures.
South Korea. After being hit hard early by coronavirus, South Korea reversed its fortunes and managed to swiftly get the virus under control. Part of its success was down to a large-scale contact tracing scheme, writes Jung Won Sonn, but it also relied heavily on widespread and publicly accepted surveillance.
Learning from past outbreaks
Coronavirus may be the most significant pandemic the world has seen this century, but there are still lessons to be learned from the Ebola, Sars and Mers outbreaks of recent years.
Mers. While many countries have struggled to get adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare staff, South Korea was already prepared to prevent these workers getting infected. That’s because the country was hit hard by Mers in 2015, writes Michael Ahn, and learned that health workers needed to be prevented from contracting and spreading the disease.
Ebola. Sierra Leone suffered badly during the 2013-2016 West African Ebola outbreak. But it also learned valuable lessons in targeted quarantines, social distancing and made significant investments in health education and prevention, writes Jia B. Kangbai, and all of this is helping with its COVID-19 response.
Political leadership
The coronavirus crisis had laid bare some stark differences in political leadership around the world. While Jacinda Ardern and Angela Merkel have been praised for their quick action in responding to COVID-19, the world’s “strong man” leaders have frequently been criticised for coming up short.
Jacinda Ardern. As a relatively isolated group of islands, New Zealand had some natural advantages when it came to limiting the spread of COVID-19. But the country’s other secret weapon has been prime minister Jacinda Ardern and her authentic, empathetic approach to leadership, writes Suze Wilson, who researches executive development. She explains how Ardern has acted as an effective “public motivator” during the crisis, and how the UK’s Boris Johnson has fallen short by comparison.
Jair Bolsonaro. In Brazil, president Jair Bolsonaro has clashed with health experts, spread misinformation and refused to practice social distancing, all while the country’s death toll shot up to become the third-highest in the world. A trio of Brazil experts calls his approach a “strategy of chaos”.
John Magufuli. Tanzania’s president John Magufuli has used the coronavirus pandemic to wage a personal war against the country’s national laboratory – halting regular updates on cases, recommending home remedies and questioning the validity of testing. It’s all part of his unilateral playbook, writes Aikande Clement Kwayu: “He will decide whether cases of COVID-19 in Tanzania have declined or increased, no matter what the science says.”
Vulnerable populations
It’s clear that coronavirus does not affect everyone equally – in the US, UK and Brazil, black people have been shown to be at far greater risk of the disease than white people. In Canada, Indigenous populations are particularly vulnerable. Understanding these inequalities is one of the biggest challenges in any government response.
Migrant workers. Heralded as an early success story for its comprehensive coronavirus response, Singapore saw its cases rise again among populations of migrant workers, many of whom live in overcrowded dormitories. Sallie Yea says it’s all part of Singapore’s history of institutionalised neglect of these communities.
Domestic workers. Given the higher rates of serious COVID-19 among black people in Brazil, it’s perhaps no surprise that the country’s domestic workers have been badly affected by the virus. With a history dating back to slavery, the domestic workforce in Brazil is predominately made up of black women, says Mauricio Sellmann Oliveira. As the disease rages out of control in the country, this population is now disproportionately at risk of both contracting and passing on the virus, and will also be hit hard by the economic fallout.
Girls. The closure of schools in Kenya has meant that many girls who relied on the government’s Sanitary Towels Programme to manage their periods no longer have access to menstrual hygiene products. This is only compounded by a lack of running water in poor areas and the loss of incomes among poor households, writes Caroline Kabiru.
Want to know more about what’s happening in relation to coronavirus? Check out Coronavirus Weekly, The Conversation’s regular round-up of expert information about coronavirus from around the world.