Greece is the best performing country in flattening the curve for the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, according to a new report published on Thursday by the International Think Tank The Bridge.
The comparative study identifies the best and worst performing countries in Europe, and investigates the factors responsible behind their respective performance in flattening the curve.
The report particularly noted the comparison between Greece, which took steps before the first 100 cases were discovered, and Spain, which took similar decisions at a much later stage of the epidemic.
The head of the think tank, Joel Ruet, noted that, four weeks after the first 100 Covid-19 cases were found in each country; it has taken 19 days for the number of cases in Greece to double, and clearly indicating that Greece has successfully flattened the curve of the epidemic. At the other end of the scale, the number of confirmed cases in the United Kingdom is still rising sharply.
“In the sea of data about Covid-19, one indicator stands out: the doubling rate of deaths and confirmed cases. It allows us to measure how well countries are flattening the curve. With the exception of Germany, we see a strong correlation between an early lockdown and subsequent success in controlling the spread of the virus.” said Ruet.
Greece tops the list of the best-performing countries on this score, followed by the Czech Republic and Romania, while Italy, Spain, France, UK, the Netherlands and Belgium are among the countries worst hit.
The report notes that in Germany, though it was relatively slow to adopt restrictive measures and then not fully, the number of deaths has not yet reached the levels seen in neighbouring countries but is continuing to rise rapidly.
According to the report “France could soon overtake Italy, and UK is still witnessing an increase of the number of confirmed cases and deaths.”
