Singapore Outranks New Zealand as the Best Place to Be During the Pandemic

Singapore is the best place to be during the pandemic, according to Bloomberg as it bested New Zealand in the Covid Resilience Ranking for the first time.

The ranking measures the largest 53 economies according to their success in handling the pandemic with the least social and economic disruption and Singapore grabbed the top spot from New Zealand by a .1 margin with its 79.7 resilience score.

Top 5 Countries with Highest Covid Resilience Ranking

1. Singapore – 79.7
2. New Zealand – 79.6
3. Australia – 76.2
4. Israel – 74.9
5. Taiwan – 74.7

Thanks to strict border restrictions and quarantine programs, the Southeast Asian country was able to drive down its locally-transmitted cases down to almost zero. One of Singapore’s strongest suits in its battle against the pandemic is its fast vaccination program- with nearly 20% of the population already vaccinated, as compared to the other top-fives: New Zealand 2%, Australia (3.7%), Taiwan (0.1%).

With the threat of the virus lowering and with vaccination efforts in place, Singapore’s economy is beginning to open up, allowing its citizen to go about their everyday lives relatively close to normal, with the exception of international travel. The further easing of community measures and scaling up of social gatherings such as live performances and sports events, with the need for pre-event testing are also in place, indicating that the community is slowly going into the new normal way of living.

Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking

Below are the 53 economies ranked according to their Covid Resilience Ranking by Bloomberg, based on data as of April 25, 2021 2 PM HKT:

Rank	Change	Economy	Bloomberg Resilience Score
1	▲1	Singapore	79.7
2	▼1	New Zealand	79.6
3	–	Australia	76.2
4	▲1	Israel	74.9
5	▼1	Taiwan	74.7
6	–	South Korea	72.7
7	▲1	Japan	70.9
8	▲3	U.A.E.	69.7
9	▲4	Finland	68.9
10	▲2	Hong Kong	68.2
11	▲4	Vietnam	67.2
12	▼5	China	67
13	▼4	Thailand	66.7
14	–	Denmark	66.6
15	▼5	Norway	66.6
16	▲1	Saudi Arabia	66.6
17	▲4	U.S.	65.3
18	▲7	U.K.	64.3
19	▼3	Canada	62.5
20	▼2	Malaysia	62.4
21	▼2	Switzerland	61.2
22	–	Russia	60.9
23	▲13	Portugal	59.7
24	▲10	Spain	59.7
25	▲8	Ireland	57.7
26	▼3	Germany	54.9
27	▲16	South Africa	54.2
28	▼2	Austria	54.2
29	▲9	Nigeria	54.1
30	▼10	India	52.4
31	▼1	Belgium	52.1
32	▼1	Sweden	52
33	▼4	Netherlands	51.7
34	▲8	Indonesia	51.1
35	▲2	Pakistan	51.1
36	▼4	Chile	50.6
37	▲2	Italy	50.4
38	▲10	Egypt	50.1
39	▲1	Greece	50
40	▲6	Romania	49.3
41	▼13	Bangladesh	49.3
42	▼18	France	48.6
43	▲4	Iraq	48
44	▲8	Czech Republic	48
45	▼10	Philippines	44.7
46	▼19	Turkey	43.6
47	▲2	Peru	43.5
48	▲5	Mexico	43
49	▼8	Iran	42.8
50	▼5	Colombia	41.5
51	▼7	Argentina	41.4
52	▼2	Poland	40.6
53	▼2	Brazil	39.1

Source: Bloomberg

The Covid Resilience Ranking has also revealed that while a successful vaccination drive is a strong factor, it is not the only indicator of success in handling the pandemic. Chile, for example, may have good access to vaccines, but the outbreak caused by virus mutations and premature easing of restrictions dropped their ranking by four spots.

Related: Chile has the best vaccination rates but new cases are spiking, here’s why

Bloomberg also noted big shifts in the score caused by resurgences and economic downturns, with China dropping five spots, Turkey nineteen spots, and Bangladesh thirteen. The Philippines also plunged 10 spots below from rank 35, as the extended lockdown in the National Capital Region dims the economic outlook of the country.

The emergence of the double mutation strain of the virus, low vaccination supply, and super spreader events in India have triggered an outbreak, causing more than 300,000 infections per day and their rank to sink 10 places to 30th.

Related: On the brink of collapse: What went wrong in India

The Magic Formula vs. COVID

So what is the magic formula for a country to win against the mutating virus with the least disruption? Bloomberg suggests that the data point to three key metrics: Institutional trust, communication, and public health infrastructure investment.

Governments fostering a high degree of trust and societal compliance and less on “being able to order people into submission.” have shown high success rates. Transparent communication that gives people a clear picture of the government’s action towards the outbreak is also a key metric for success, as seen in New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, and China when they announced the shutting of its borders to contain the number of cases.

Investment in public health infrastructures such as contact tracing systems, effective testing, and health education have also proven effective in the avoidance of lockdowns that cripple the economy.

Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience ranking is computed using a wide range of indicators measuring each economy’s current COVID status:

• 1-month cases per 100,000
• 1-month fatality rate
• Total Deaths per 1 million
• Positivity Test Rate
• People covered by vaccines

Social-economic indicators have also been measured to see how each economy have fared in the midst of the pandemic:

• Lockdown severity
• Community mobility
• 2021 GDP Growth Forecast
• Universal Healthcare Coverage
• Human Development Index

SOURCE: Bloomberg COVID Resilience Ranking