Leaders making a difference during the COVID crisis

Various counties have been following different approaches to tackle the COVID crisis. But a few stand out in their consistent thinking and implementation. New Zealand is a country that prides itself on tourism. But that country took a bold decision of shutting down tourism. They went ahead and imposed a month-long lockdown. The number of deaths in New Zealand is a minuscule.

Take Taiwan. Taiwan couldn't even be a member of WHO. Now it exports medical masks and related products. How is this possible? How did the country adopt protective measures? They started very early and without waiting for anyone, they went ahead.

Consider Germany. They were touted to become worse than Italy. Instead, they did something right.  Testing was given relentless focus. More than 350,000 tests are being conducted every week. Early detection became the mantra there.

I don't know if these countries share any common traits. One thing is clear. They are all led by women leaders. All have strong democracy. Most of the parties, cutting across political boundaries, come together more often for the welfare of the country. They have a very good infrastructure backed with good public health system. Interventions happened quite early. Tough restrictions were imposed on social gatherings and other activities. All energy was directed towards testing in an aggressive manner.

The case of Taiwan is noteworthy. Thanks to China, this country is shunned by WHO. Given the heavy traffic from China, this should be highly susceptible from day one. Instead, how did this nation go about? President Tsai Ing-wen systematically went about this. She ensured all air traffic from Wuhan underwent thorough testing. Severe restrictions were imposed on all flights. A command centre was introduced and production of masks and other equipment doubled up. Result? 6 deaths and < 400 confirmed cases.

Germany is another story. Very low death rate even though the infected were more than 150,000. The response, in Germany, can be summed up the view of Heidelberg Hospital's Head of Virology Dr Hans Krausslich. He remarked "Our strength in Germany is the rational decision making at the highest level combined with the trust the public have on the government machinery."

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacine Ardern said "In the face of the greatest threat to human health we have seen in over a century, Kiwis have quietly and collectively implemented a nationwide wall of defense."

Amazing responses from these three women leaders who quietly went about, struck early and decisively and focused on testing. Their approach is paying rich dividends indeed.

There are a few other countries headed by women. Nordic states that routinely top any index, computed by UN, like Iceland, Finland have implemented competent measures. Ms Sanna Marin is the youngest leader in the world. Katrín Jakobsdóttir heads the tiny island state of Iceland. Of course, its population is around 350,000. Small indeed. But they went about testing aggressively. They brought out the fact that 50% of the positive cases do not exhibit any symptoms.

I couldn't help but appreciate the no-nonsense intent behind the following statement, made by the Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. She oversees a tiny Caribbean island Sint Marteen of 40,000 people. 

"If you do not have the type of bread you like in your house, eat crackers. If you do not have bread, eat cereal. Eat oats" she says emphatically.