Covid-19 Response: Five Worst Countries

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Covid-19 has spread to all corners of the world, crippling society and causing millions of deaths. Some countries handled it well and others lost thousands of lives, with the struggle continuing. This is five countries hit the hardest by the pandemic.

1.  USA

Unfortunately, for America, their president at the time – Donald Trump - was severely incompetent, to say the least, when the initial outbreaks hit. Despite repeated warnings from scientists and experts around him, Trump continued to treat the pandemic with a nonchalance that echoed throughout society. Misinformation and fake news riddled America with arguments and confusion over how to act and where to go. On top of this, Trump continued to have massive rallies with hundreds of people in confined spaces wearing no masks. Trump also suggested that injecting disinfectant into your veins could cure the virus.

Trump ignored the WHO’s advice and never implemented a track and trace system or made wearing masks mandatory, which added to the massive spread across the country.

Moreover, America’s lack of a public health care system has affected their death rate - as many people don’t have insurance and can’t afford the bills they would be faced with, so they never seek medical attention.

There is hope for America now with new president, Joe Biden, in head office. On his first day, Biden made wearing masks in public places and transport mandatory and in the following weeks he released federal guidelines based on science, which most of the American public welcomed after so much confusion.

However, due to the conflict Trump caused as president and the subsequential split torn into American politics - there are some red states refusing to follow Bidens guidelines, making it increasingly more difficult to control the virus.

2. Brazil

Even though Brazil has had one of the highest death tolls due to Covid-19, president, Jair Bolsonaro, still refuses to put the country into a national lockdown. Some cities created their own measures but were met with protests, some of which the president even joined.

Poorer citizens of Brazil are less likely to access health care services and have therefore been affected more by the virus. The infection rate is extremely high but expected to be much higher due to severe delays in testing and pressures from local administrators to lower numbers on paperwork.

Brazil has begun vaccinating. However, the president does not support it and has went as far as to say the vaccine is “untrustworthy” due to its “origin.” In response to this, China delayed the shipment of the vaccine ingredients to Brazil, leading to a halt in production.

In response to the president’s actions, thousands of people in Brazil protested in the streets in January of 2021 to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment.

3. Mexico

Mexico is another country in which the government failed to respond timely and effectively. President, Andres Manuel López Obrador, refused to close borders or practice caution at airports. Obrador claimed that Mexico’s “spirituality would protect the country against the virus.” He went as far as to say that religious amulets would be his protection from Covid infection.

The president still allowed the Vive Latino music festival to continue with around 40,000 people attending. He did restrict travel from the US into Mexico but proceeded to allow Mexicans to work and partake in education across the border.

Many Mexicans blame the president for the current state the country is in and claim he refused enforce a national lockdown as elections came close due to feared backlash from shutting down the economy.

4. India

Unlike the other countries on the list, India responded quickly to Covid-19. On 17 January, they issued a track and trace system, when cases were found in the country and they implemented a strict lockdown.

However, only a few hours’ notice was given to the Indian people, and they were not prepared which resulted in millions of low-income migrant workers who had been searching cities for a better life suffering from illness and hunger. With very little to no financial help from the government, it was hard for some to survive.

Eventually, 45 days after the initial lockdown was enforced, the government provided migrant workers with rations, but this was too little too late.

Due to lack of funds and resources, the Indian medical system was not equipped to deal with the mass pandemic that is coronavirus. This meant many Indian people were turned away when seeking medical care.

Unfortunately, despite India trying their best to tackle the pandemic head on, they simply lacked the funding and resources to combat it.

5. UK

Great Britain. There should be no excuse for a country as advanced as ours to get this so wrong. Yet again, it comes from the fault of leadership.

The initial lockdown implemented in the UK was far too late and even at that, far too lackadaisical.

Five weeks after the first confirmed Covid-19 case in the UK, Boris Johnson, said:

“It’s very important that people consider that they should, as far as possible, go about business as usual.” It wasn’t until 285 lives were lost that Johnson finally decided to lockdown the country, travel restrictions in and out of the country weren’t imposed until June.

Furthermore, there were several bad calls made by Johnson and other administrators. Thousands of elderly people were sent from hospitals to care homes without being tested for the virus which led to massive outbreaks. Millions of pounds were wasted on a faulty track and trace system. There was a failure to supply frontline workers with adequate PPE, leaving them to improvise with towels. Further money was wasted on faulty PPE. Johnston failed to attend not one, but five Cobra meetings.

The ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme was initiated in an attempt to help the economy; however, many scientists and experts believe that this drove the infection rate up and gave people the impression that socialising wasn’t dangerous.

Needless to say, the UK would not be in the position it is in today if it were not for the combination of the many bad decisions made throughout the government.

While the virus has been devastating and impossible to predict it is clear to see that countries who failed to take the virus seriously, react quickly, use PPE, track infections and prevent socialising, have suffered far worse than those who responded correctly and tackled the virus head on. Lockdown is tough for everyone, but who can put a price on saving lives.