This past year has definitely been one for the books, with nothing but one disappointment after another. However, the most thrilling saga has been America’s response to managing COVID-19. We have had multiple nationwide and state-wide lockdowns as well as the implementation of procedures such as wearing masks; and yet, the virus continues to surge in an upward trend in various states. The main reason can be attributed to a lack of seriousness towards the virus itself. Many citizens continue to believe that the virus is a hoax even though the rate of deaths due to COVID-19 continues to rise by the thousands every day.
However, many countries around the world have found ways to manage COVID-19 and even eradicate the rise in COVID-related cases. They have utilized strict lockdown procedures as well as closing their borders indefinitely in order to eliminate spread from other countries.
New Zealand
New Zealand has been the most impressive in terms of being able to manage the virus. With a population of about 5 million people, they decided to close their borders in mid-March when they had only 28 confirmed cases of the virus. Then a week later, Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern announced a nationwide lockdown. She enforced an incredibly strict lockdown that entailed no restaurant takeaway, completely closing beaches, and only driving within one’s neighborhood. Although Prime Minister Ardern sanctioned a five-week lockdown, New Zealand continued to remain in lockdown for seven weeks total.
Prime Minister Ardern refused to lift restrictions until the country was able to flatten their curve of cases and the 40,000 tests taken in the past 17 days were all negative. However, on June 8th, New Zealand finally lifted its restrictions. Although they have gone 100 days without any community spread cases, Prime Minister Ardern continues to encourage testing because she understands that management of the virus does not mean complete eradication.
One thing that New Zealand did not implement when trying to manage the spread of COVID-19 was the emphasis on wearing masks. When New Zealand was preparing to go into quarantine, masks were hard to come by, and by the time they were out of lockdown, there hadn’t been any evidence of community spread cases. Yet, they did and still continue to place emphasis on remaining 6 feet apart. Although as of Monday, they have a total of 1,219 confirmed cases, and these people continue to remain in completely managed isolation.
Thailand
Despite receiving a large number of visitors from countries largely affected by COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, Thailand continues to boast one of the lowest number of COVID-related deaths at only 58 deaths and 3,240 total confirmed cases. No one truly knows how Thailand has been able to keep their numbers so low. However, after observing the locals, it has been determined that although Thailand did not take the traditional route in order to manage the spread of COVID-19; their already established cultural customs have aided in helping to curb the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 spokesman for Thailand, Taweesin Visanuyothin, said that it doesn’t have to do solely with genetics, but that “it has to do with culture. Thai people do not have body contact when we greet each other.” The culturally correct way to greet people in Thailand is called wai, which is a prayer-like motion that requires no contact with the other person.
Vietnam
Up until recently, Vietnam was the only Asian country that had no community transmitted cases or any COVID-related deaths, as seen here. They did so by closing their borders to everyone, except for native returners in early March, and immediately enforced a strict lockdown as soon as cases around the world began rising rapidly. They, much like Thailand, engage in contactless greetings. Therefore, it is suspected that this is how they were able to manage the spread of COVID-19 in their communities.
Pacific Island Nations
Small Pacific Island Nations such as Nauru, Tuvalu, Kiribati, The Solomon Islands, Samoa, Palau, and many more have successfully evaded bringing the virus into their borders and have been managing the spread of COVID-19 by keeping their borders closed. They all went into a full lockdown in late February and after recently opening their borders, are still enforcing strict travel rules stating that those wishing to enter these countries must show medical certificates declaring them to be COVID-free. Also, those that come from infected countries, regardless of medical paperwork, must be quarantined for 14 days.
Africa
Many people expected for Africa to be hit the hardest due to their past response to other diseases as well as their lack of preventative medical techniques; however, it has been quite the opposite. Countries such as Malawi, South Sudan, Burundi, Sao Tome and Principe, Lesotho, and Comoros have yet to report a single case of the virus. As of right now, there is no clear indication as to how these countries have managed to evade the virus. But, scientists and researchers from the World Health Organization (WHO) have suspected that it is a combination of the virus’s sensitivity to the climate in these countries along with Africa’s familiarity with infectious diseases.
