DHAKA, 27 December 2020, (TON): Bangladesh has ranked among the top 20 countries in COVID Resilience Rankings published by the US news agency Bloomberg. It has made in the 1st place in the South Asia region.

The Bloomberg ranking has considered 10 social and economic key indicators including increases in the number of COVID-19 cases, overall mortality rate. testing capability, the capacity of local healthcare systems, the impact of virus-related restrictions on the economy, and freedom of movement.

New Zealand is at the top with a score of 85.6 and Taiwan, Australia, Norway, Singapore were the top 5 in the rankings out of 53 countries. The low-rankings nations were Peru Argentina and Mexico.

Bangladesh is in the 20th position with a score of 59.2 which is equal to Germany in the 21st position. Also, Bangladesh tops the list in terms of GDP growth.

There are indicators where Bangladesh has positive results such as a mortality rate of 1.6%, 44 deaths per million, and a test positivity rate of 10.2% in the last month. But the lower side was in the terms of access to vaccines.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Bangladesh has performed excellently with the management of the overall situation. The government lock downed around the country and finally, it reopened all government office except the educational institutions.

The Bangladesh government also provided loans for the micro-entrepreneurs which has revived the economy further and it has contributed to improving the GDP growth in the mid of the pandemic.

India and Bangladesh are also cooperating on the COVID vaccine. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the near past that New Delhi will pay special attention to Bangladesh’s immunization requirements. In this regard, Bangladesh’s Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India Private in November for 30 million vaccine doses. However, COVID vaccine by India is not tested one and is in trial stage.