How women leaders outperform their male counterparts in flattening the Covid-19 curve

As the world is grappling with the coronavirus crisis, women leaders of some countries, including New Zealand, Taiwan, and Norway have outperformed even developed nations like the United States, Italy, and China in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

The leaders came out successful in flattening the otherwise rising curve of the coronavirus pandemic in their respective countries.

Here is a look at how they managed the mounting crisis of the pandemic -

New Zealand

The country with under 5 million population has declared the nationwide lockdown on March 25. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was praised for conducting extensive tests after the lockdown.

When some flouted the restrictions imposed by the authorities, the Prime Minister in early April chastized New Zealanders and asked them to “apply common sense” and shrink down their social group to “a small group of individuals who are part of your bubble ... the bubble you must maintain for the month,” she said. She further mentioned that the modelling presented to the government before the March 25 lockdown showed New Zealand on a similar trajectory to the likes of Italy and Spain, according to New Zealand’s local media Newshub.

Ardern addressed children on Easter and told them compassionately that this year there would not be any Easter bunnies.

The country has reported only one death so far, the Guardian reported.

Taiwan

Despite being a non-member of the World Health Organization, Taiwan has gathered praise from all over the world for its robust measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The self-governing island did aggressive containment, quarantine, and monitoring measures that prevented local transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Tsai Ing-wen ordered to seal Taiwan’s borders on March 19. The country with a population of around 20 million, now has 393 cases, with 6 deaths reported so far and around 124 people have recuperated from the deadly disease. Taiwan, however, accused the WHO of depriving it of the timely information to fight the virus.

Norway

Norway’s Prime Minister dealt with crisis diligently and compassionately. On March 17, Erna Solberg held a 30-minute press conference to address kids in Norway and told them that it is okay to be scared over coronavirus.

According to a Forbes report, Norway has recorded 6,403 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 116 deaths as on April 11. While both numbers continue to rise, the rate of hospitalizations is dropping.

Solberg’s administration has collaborated with Norway's largest mobile operator, Telenor, to help them track the spread of the coronavirus.

About 80% of all the country's data traffic passes through the company's infrastructure so Telenor knows roughly where each phone is, as the phone hops between different base stations throughout the day. The information goes directly to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, BBC reported.

Denmark and Finland

Denmark, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Finland led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who is the head of a coalition whose four other parties are all led by women have also taken effective and efficient measures to flatten the coronavirus curve, The Guardian reported.

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