Thailand tops global ranking in handling of Covid-19 crisis

(The Star) – Thailand ranked highest in a global survey for its effective handling of Covid-19 and recovery from the crisis.

The Global Covid-19 Index (GCI), published yesterday (July 28), gave Thailand an index score of 82.06, putting it on top of the global chart as an example of best practices in tackling the dreaded virus.

South Korea ranked second with a recovery index of 81.09, followed by Latvia (80.81), Malaysia (79.37), Taiwan (78.94) and New Zealand (78.55).

Australia, which used to top the chart in previous months, now ranks 6th, with a recovery index of 77.18.

In the previous ranking published on June 14, Thailand came second in Covid-19 recovery among 184 nations across the globe.

The GCI bases 70 per cent of its calculation on big data and daily analysis from 184 countries, while the other 30 per cent comes from the Global Health Security Index, an assessment of global health security in 195 countries prepared by the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security.

As of yesterday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand stood at 3,297 (including 360 who tested positive in state quarantine). Of these, 128 are being treated, 3,111 have recovered and 58 have succumbed to the virus.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases has gone beyond 16.6 million, up by 229,000 in 24 hours, with 10.2 million patients having recovered and 652,000 dying.