World Happiness Report 2023 56 index measuring how close a country was in the very early stages of the pandemic (March 31, 2020), to infections in other countries. In World Happiness Report 2022, we used a single measure of the extent to which a country could remember and apply the epidemic control strategies learned during the SARS epidemic of 2003. Countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region were able to build on SARS experiences to develop fast and maintained virus suppression strategies,47 so we used membership in that region (WHOWPR) as a proxy measure of the likelihood of a country adopting a virus elimination strategy.48 The trust-related variables include a measure of institutional trust, and the Gini coefficient measuring each country’s income inequality.49 The fact that experts and governments in countries distant from the earlier SARS epidemics did not get the message faster about the best COVID-19 response strategy provides eloquent testimony to the power of a “won’t happen here” mindset, illustrated by the death rate impacts of membership of the Western Pacific Region of the WHO, whose members had the most direct experience with the SARS epidemic, and were hence more likely to have learned the relevant lessons.50 There was very early evidence that COVID-19 was highly infectious, spread by asymptomatic51 and pre-symptomatic52 carriers, and subject to aerosol transmission.53 These characteristics require masks54 and physical distancing to slow transmission, rapid and widespread testing55 to identify and eliminate community56 outbreaks, and effective testing and isolation for those needing to move from one community or country to another. Countries that quickly adopted all these pillar policies were able to drive community transmission to zero. But most countries were not able and willing to remove the virus from community transmission, resulting in the creation of new variants,57 with the more infectious of them quickly achieving dominance, and rendering Photo Larm Rmah on Unsplash
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