Best and worst countries on COVID-19 response

[Middle-aged Europe]

Germany has been more good than bad (especially in the area of testing) although in retrospect they could have closed the pubs, bars, cinemas, and gyms maybe a week or two earlier. Perhaps this could have circumvented other, harsher restrictions that are now in place.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Here's a pretty detailed analysis of individual countries' reponses:

https://www.dkv.global/covid

Israel comes in first, then Germany followed by South Korea.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Dr Fauci and Dr Birx have kept the US on track under very trying circumstances. Trump deserves credit for handing over the science to them 100%.

That didn't age well.

[Middle-aged Europe]

According to this detailed Politico analysis, Vietnam is A-number-1:

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2020/ranking-countries-coronavirus-impact/

[Middle-aged Europe]

I'd say Germany has dropped significantly in this regard simply because the COVID response has become totally incoherent and incomprehensible.

Merkel and the leaders of the 16 states don't agree on much anymore. The leader of the 16 states don't agree with each other anymore. Individual state leaders change their opinions from one week to the next. Everybody agrees that coherent nation-wide rules make the best sense, but agreements on how such rules should look like in practice have seemingly become impossible or they last only for a couple of days at best. Saxony has become the state with the highest infection rates by far, but at the same they were also one of the few states to still allow keeping the hotels open for Christmas season. You have certain social distancing rules in place one week, and completely different ones the week after. Everybody should social distance, except for children until 14 years (12 in some states).

"While the COVID situation is getting more serious, we should nonetheless allow people to come together for Christmas and New Year's Eve" -> Two weeks later: "We must reverse this decision ASAP".

"While the COVID situation is getting more serious, we should let the Black Friday sales go forward this year" -> Two weeks later: "We must shut down all the retail stores for at least three weeks."