According to the latest Bloomberg COVID-19 Resilience Ranking, Canada isn’t considered one of the “best places to live” during the pandemic.
The report, which was updated on January 25, ranked 12 countries ahead of Canada, including Singapore, Australia and Taiwan.
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What is the Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking?
Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking is described as “a measure of the best places to be in the coronavirus era.”
The company uses COVID-19 data from around the world, such as case figures, death tolls and vaccine rollout plans, to consider where the pandemic is being “handled the most effectively with the least social and economic disruption.”
After being initially published in November 2020, the ranking is subject to regular updates that reflect ongoing changes in each country.
As of January 2021, the resilience ranking includes 53 countries.
All of the places included were chosen because they had a global economy of $200 billion or more prior to the pandemic.
Which countries are in the top 10?
The places at the top-end of Bloomberg’s ranking have placed there for several reasons, related to specific COVID-19 data from each spot.
The report explains that the top three countries — New Zealand, Singapore and Australia — haven’t even started to vaccinate large numbers in their populations yet, but low community transmission is preventing any surges in case numbers.
It also acknowledges that top spot holder New Zealand has strictly closed borders, four vaccine deals and has nearly eliminated COVID-19 locally, while countries at the bottom of the list continue to report record-high numbers of cases and death tolls.
Taiwan and China help to make up the top five countries, while Norway, Finland and Japan follow in sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively.
Rounding off the top 10 list is Hong Kong and Vietnam, both of which have yet to begin vaccinating the population but continue to report extremely low case and death statistics.
Where does Canada place?
According to Bloomberg’s list, Canada places thirteenth out of 53 countries.
While it remains in the top 15 and has a relatively strong overall resilience score, it has dropped two places in the ranking since the report’s latest update.
Canada’s access to vaccines is scored at 330%, which is considerably higher than any other country before it in the report.
However, the number of cases and deaths are also higher, as is the percentage of positive tests rate.
On the other hand, Canada is much further up in the resilience ranking than our neighbours to the south.
The United States comes in at 35 out of 53 countries, with an overall score of 48.3%.