Pakistan was ranked among the third-riskiest countries for coronavirus in a recent study conducted by the Deep Knowledge Group on nations and their safety against the pandemic.
Pakistan came at 148th position out of a total of 200 nations, with a safety score of 370 (the highest being 752).
The 250-page study listed Switzerland as the safest country in the world for coronavirus, with South Sudan at the 200th position, with a score of 300.
Among Pakistan's neighbouring countries, all but one were in the top 100, with China at the seventh position (717), India at the 56th (532), Iran at 73rd (505), and Afghanistan towards the end at the 196th position (310).
Interestingly, the United States (530) was left behind by Romania (531) at number 58 but managed to beat Russia, which came in at 61.
According to the Deep Knowledge Group study, the "analysis utilises a subset of 20 parameters from the full pool of 130 qualitative and quantitative parametres".
The study monitored and evaluated factors such as quarantine efficiency, monitoring and detection, health readiness, and government efficiency.
The states and regions were grouped into four distinct tiers, of which Pakistan falls in the fourth one. "Tier 4 consists of territories in which significant data unavailability and reliability prevented a fully comprehensive analysis from being conducted," the study said.
What is fascinating to note in the study is that it is not the countries that responded swiftly to the coronavirus pandemic that were listed highest but those that had the most resilient economies, with strong healthcare systems.
"Switzerland and Germany achieve the #1 and #2 positions in this new special case study specifically because of their economy’s resilience, and due to the careful ways in which they are attempting to relax lockdown and economic freezing mandates in a fact and science-based manner, without sacrificing public health and safety,” the study said.
The top 10 countries are as follows and the rest of the study can be found here.
1. Switzerland
2. Germany
3. Israel
4. Singapore
5. Japan
6. Austria
7. China
8. Australia
9. New Zealand
10. South Korea
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