By John Lee
(ECNS) – Bloomberg has released a new edition of the "COVID Resilience Ranking,” placing the United States first in fighting COVID-19. As of July 14, the U.S. has recorded nearly 34 million COVID-19 cases and more than 600,000 deaths. Does it live up to such a good reputation?
The new ranking was mainly attributed to changes in evaluation standards. Key indicators such as confirmed cases and death tolls, which used to be paramount factors, have been ruled out by Bloomberg. Instead, it introduced a new element — Reopening Progress — to the "COVID Resilience Ranking,” defining anti-pandemic results by "normalization” while putting lockdown and border curbs into negative indicators.
At present, the coronavirus is still mutating and the Delta variant is spreading rapidly in the U.S. The change of new indicators shows a disrespect both for the lives lost and science. The ranking, therefore, is not convincing.
What's more, the U.S. government has disappointed the world in terms of immunization coverage. It not only fell short of President Joe Biden’s goal of partially vaccinating 70 percent of American adults by Independence Day, but also put off its plan to send 80 million vaccine doses overseas by the end of June. The government's failure domestically and internationally has led to an astonishing number of deaths in the U.S. and a dire need for vaccines in the developing countries it has promised to help.
Bloomberg’s ranking is irresponsible for patients who are still suffering from the virus, but also disrespects the 600,000 lives claimed by the virus. The U.S. should not fall back on the illusion of first place and ignore truly important anti-epidemic indicators.
The ranking concocted by the American media is like the "Emperor's New Clothes" for the sluggish U.S. government amid the pandemic. However, people around the world will not let themselves be easily fooled.
