Similar approaches, different outcomes

One year ago, most of the countries worldwide were in three different situations facing Covid-19: there were a peak of infections or it was just arriving, or the country already had a tool to control the spread. A year ago, these three scenarios can be seen in Colombia, New Zealand, and China. The situation in which these countries are nowadays, are based on how they managed the initial outbreak and its follow up.

Let us start in the first appearance of the virus; Wuhan, China. By march of 2020, the Chinese government already had 4 months forward in comparison with other countries in restrictions, and countermeasures. They already were in stage 3 of control of the spread. By now, the intense fight against Sars-Cov-2 was already won, malls started to reopen and the foreshadows of an imminent hecatomb, were now a last night nightmare. Millions of deaths were prevented after the countermeasures implemented by NHC (National Health Commission of the People´s Republic of China). Which were these instruments? Basically, what Colombia will be doing in this exact period and New Zealand carrying it out to an extreme, the countermeasures aimed to cut out the person-to-person transmission mechanism of the virus, no more social gatherings, and everyone at home. People were worried, and panic was a fuel for consciousness. An active government seeking for solutions and restrictions Nowadays, China has an average of 17 new cases a day, according to Google Statistics.

Then we have the role model, champion of the world, and king of the hill (in covid-19 control) … New Zealand! A country set by 2 main islands, located in Oceania is one of the countries in which Covid-19 was like to go to the sauna and feel suffocated for a bit, and then we are about to enjoy a smooth skin. In March, as soon as they registered the first cases of coronavirus in their country, they completely sealed the country, no merc to go in or out, no people in or out. Everyone in lockdown. This lasted around a month. As Paul Dyer says: "the country shut down all nonessential businesses, restricted internal travel, and banned social gatherings" (Dyer, 2021). Then everything started to become better, but around June, a second wave of cases started to appear. However, this time would be different, our beloved and admired Jacina Ardern accompanied with her government staff, decided to just lockdown Auckland and do effective control and tracing of these cases. Get them into quarantine, and then everything back to normal again. Despite the almost eradication of the covid-19 in the whole territory, it was not issue free. Sues and not happy trade neighbors resulted from this action. As New Zealand is a member of the WTO, it cannot cease trade overnight, probably we will see numerous cases against New Zealand in the DS system of the WTO in the following (if they are not already there) next months posted on the WTO webpage. It was a brave act of the New Zealand Knight for being against the world to protect their people. In a second thought, they could argue based on Article XX that the products would harm their population and also, they can explain that MFN principle was not violated since they did not prefer a nation over other one, they stopped the trade with everyone. What is also remarkable was the good disposition of its population, according to Anna Jones "polls showed more than 80% of people backed the government's actions." (Jones, 2020). By now, New Zealand is a paradise in which most people would like to live, a country free of face masks.

On the other side of the world, we have... Colombia. A country in which the first coronavirus cases started to appear in February. Everyone was worried but they were still living their lives. The only one seemed to be worried was the government, which was the one that stirred up a hornet's nest. Lockdown for everyone, just like the success of China and New Zealand, Colombia did the same. Upgrade the ICU to attend new infected, restrictions to avoid any type of contact to stop the spread. This lockdown lasted around 3 months. 3 months in which uncertainty and anguish were the protagonists of the movie. These three months were fantastic for some, but a nightmare for others. In case of a friend, it was a mix between both. His parents without jobs were exhausting lifelong savings, hoping for the lockdown to be lifted and then find a way to sustain the house different from important savings which were scarce. 3 months in which the anguish of not consuming all the supplies at once due to the anxiety generated by the high uncertainty. Then, it got a little better for those who were desperate. Lockdown was lifted just for those who could not work from home. It is important to make clarification that this friend did not live in the borders of the city, where informal economy is much stronger, the government does not have enough control and, therefore, everyone seek a dime from anywhere. With the few left, he and his family started a restaurant. Due the conditions, only for delivery. After more countermeasures have been lifted, he hopes that lockdowns never threat again his performance. Something important to point out is that those places in which government does not have enough degree of control, people kept their lives as if nothing were really happening. Regions such as Orinoquia, and south of Colombia, this was a reality. As it is nowadays. The measures implemented by the Colombian government have been the correct ones (regarding its resources and control) but its lack of presence in its whole territory is an obstacle for these instruments to work appropriately. Being a friend of this obstacle, here comes the lack of collective consciousness. Let's have the word 'collective' to refer a common thought, and not the meaning to be together as many colombians would like to be. We, as a culture, love to be in society and there is always an excuse to gather up and have fun. This is the problem. We give more importance to our social lives than to our population's future. We see a little window, a decrease in covid spreading, and then... we will abuse of it, we will start again our social life, with parties and social gatherings. Colombian government have acted well, not as drastically as New Zealand, not as accurate as China's but has done things well, what does not help is the carefree perspective of its population and its low degree of control in its territory. Actually, the number of cases is still high everyday and the ICU capacity have been reaching its maximum capacity again.

In 2020, many countries faced many outbrakes of covid-19, some with efficient measures supported by its citizens, others with extreme countermeasures that helped them to eliminate almost completely this virus, and some other countries (representing other with the same attitudes) in which the government and institutions have done well, but there is lack of citizen consciusness and support, hindering a fast recuperation to reach again the levels we had before in quality of life, since the product, sooner or later, will start to increase again. It can be said that governments have done well, some with ultimate solutions, others with average, but what determines its output and effectiveness is the support of its population.

References:

Xu, TL., Ao, MY., Zhou, X. et al. China’s practice to prevent and control COVID-19 in the context of large population movement. Infect Dis Poverty 9, 115 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-020-00716-0