Page 61 - COVID-19: The Great Reset

the UK, seemed to underperform on different counts, whether in
terms of preparation, crisis management, public communication,

the number of confirmed cases and deaths, and various other
metrics. Neighbouring countries that share many structural
similarities, like France and Germany, had a rough equivalent
number of confirmed cases but a strikingly different number of

deaths from COVID-19. Apart from differences in healthcare
infrastructure, what accounts for these apparent anomalies?
Currently (June 2020), we are still faced with multiple “unknowns”
regarding the reasons why COVID-19 struck and spread with

particular virulence in some countries and regions, and not in
others. However, and on aggregate, the countries that fare better
share the following broad and common attributes:

They were “prepared” for what was coming (logistically
and organizationally).

They made rapid and decisive decisions.
They have a cost-effective and inclusive healthcare
system.
They are high-trust societies in which citizens have

confidence in both the leadership and the information
they provide.
They seem under duress to exhibit a real sense of
solidarity, favouring the common good over individual

aspirations and needs.

With the partial exception of the first and second attributes that
are more technical (albeit technicality has cultural elements
embedded in it), all the others can be categorized as “favourable”

societal characteristics, proving that core values of inclusivity,
solidarity and trust are strong determining elements and important
contributors to success in containing an epidemic.

It is of course much too early to depict with any degree of
accuracy the form that the societal reset will take in different

countries, but some of its broad global contours can already be
delineated. First and foremost, the post-pandemic era will usher in
a period of massive wealth redistribution, from the rich to the poor

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