What are the Small Countries Doing!?

What are the Small Countries Doing!?

By: Wei Mei

Countries around the world are facing a crisis. The amount of people dying is skyrocketing. The economies of the world are crashing. This is because of the covid-19. Right now, there are over 150,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Most businesses around the world are closing down. All the countries are in trouble. Of course, some countries are doing better than others.

Which country did the best?

People had expected the worlds’ superpowers to easily defeat the coronavirus. But in reality, some of those countries are suffering the worst. The countries that did the best are actually those you would have never expected to.

You might not have heard of this country, but the one that did the best during the pandemic would be a country called Saint Kitts & Nevis. Saint Kitts & Nevis are two tropical islands located in the Caribbean Sea. The two islands have a combined land area of 261 km². This makes it the smallest country in the Americas.

Why is this country considered the best?

To be considered the best during the pandemic, one would have to look at the amount of confirmed cases, the amount of deaths, the recent daily cases, its effect on the economy, and the methods used to combat the covid-19. If a country does well on all of these fronts, then any negative post pandemic effects will be reduced. If not, then the after effects could be as harmful as the pandemic itself.

Based on the requirements above, then the best country during the coronavirus is the country called Saint Kitts & Nevis. The amount of confirmed cases only reached 17, about .03% of the population. Out of the 17, 16 have recovered. Not only that, there have been 0 deaths. And for the past couple of weeks, there have been 0 confirmed cases. This shows that their covid-19 restrictions are effective.

To get this effect, Saint Kitts & Nevis used a number of methods. They closed all their airlines, ports, schools, and non-essential businesses. A curfew has been instituted and wearing face masks outside is mandatory. There are also some restrictions on social activities and a suspension on liquor licenses. Due to these measures, the amount of covid-19 cases are low in this country.

Of course, they also made preparations for the economy. The government pledged a 120 million stimulus package to protect business and jobs. Before this, they had a surplus of funds from running the country smoothly. That’s how they were able to push for the 120 million stimulus.

Why can’t other countries do the same?

The biggest reason would be the population. Saint Kitts & Nevis only has a population of about 55 thousand. This makes it easier to enforce the changes. The face mask being mandatory works because the country doesn’t need to provide as much as others. There are also less people for the virus to infect and spread.

Another reason is the trust between the government and the public. The people of Saint Kitts & Nevis are following the procedure set by the government to combat the covid-19. This is completely different from countries like the U.S. The U.S. has some parts ignoring the restrictions set by the government due to a difference of political parties. This infighting has caused a slower acceptance rate of policies that could help combat the covid-19.

Other similar countries.
There is a similar country near Saint Kitts and Nevis called Dominica. It is also an island country in the Caribbean Sea. Its entire population is about 72,000. The amount of confirmed cases only reached 18, of which all of them recovered. It even lifted its state of emergency. If you compare the progress of these small countries with other large countries, you would be surprised. The big countries’ cases are escalating while the small countries’ cases are recovering.

What the countries around the world should be doing right now is to learn from the countries that are doing well. This way, they could use a viable method to combat the covid-19 and at the very least, use it as a reference to prevent future pandemics.