The United States surged past Israel to take the No. 1 slot this month in Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking.
Israel remains at No. 4.
The report, released on Monday, has redefined resilience. “The best and worst places to be in the COVID-19 era are increasingly defined by one thing: normalization,” Bloomberg wrote. “Taming cases and deaths were once paramount, along with ensuring a robust health-care system. Now, the ability to essentially turn back the clock and return to pre-pandemic times is taking on an even greater significance.”
Bloomberg changed its metric slightly this month to accommodate the shift in COVID-19 management, as large parts of the Western world, including Israel, vaccinate and open their economies and skies. A new “reopening progress” parameter, which includes the ease of moving in and out of a country and how much air travel has recovered, is now part of the index.
The US took first place, Bloomberg said, because of the extent of its vaccine rollout – around 46% of Americans are now inoculated, according to recent reports – and its resulting ability to open up.
“Restaurants are packed, masks are no longer required for vaccinated people and Americans are going on vacation again,” wrote Bloomberg. “The US is set for blistering economic growth this year thanks to a $1.9 trillion stimulus package and inoculation-fueled consumer confidence.”
But the authors of the report said that “there’s no guarantee that turnarounds pulled off by the US… will hold, as outbreaks in the developing world continue to throw up fearsome mutations.”
Even though this month’s ranking is not directly correlated to last month’s because of the new measurements, Israel was unable to shift upwards due to the Delta variant, which has led to a number of outbreaks and forced the government to reinstate an indoor masking policy. Moreover, the country pushed off plans to open to individual vaccinated tourists on July 1 until at least August 1, as it struggles to manage rising cases.
But Israel’s decision not to roll out additional restrictions Sunday night, if maintained, should help its ranking next month.
“We treat morbidity responsibly and with transparency, and without creating unnecessary panic,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said Monday at a Meretz faction meeting. “With proper management and personal responsibility by all of Israel’s citizens, it is possible to maintain health and freedom of movement, livelihood and routine in Israel.”
Many European countries also ranked in the top 10, while some Asian countries – in the top of the pack until now because of being able to force compliance and therefore contain the virus – dropped due to low vaccination rates, flare-ups and because their no-tolerance-for-COVID policies have curtailed opening.
India, much of Latin America and the Philippines – where an Israeli team recently traveled to assist with its challenged vaccination efforts – are still struggling with high numbers of new cases and mortality rates.
Others that ranked high: New Zealand at No. 2, Switzerland at No. 3 and France at No. 5.
The Bloomberg Resilience Ranking evaluates 53 countries based on a number of key data points to determine where coronavirus is being handled most effectively. Bloomberg looks at which countries have the lowest mortality rates and the highest testing and vaccination rates, as well as the lowest level of economic and social disruptions.
“It is not a final verdict,” the authors wrote, “it never could be, given the imperfections in virus and vaccine data and the fast pace of this crisis. Circumstance and pure luck also play a role, but are hard to quantify.”