Taipei-Taiwan was ranked in first place in the COVID-19 Recovery Index published by the Tokyo-based English-language news magazine “Nikkei Asia” on Friday.
The “Nikkei COVID-19 Recovery Index” evaluates vaccine rollouts and efficiency of COVID-19 management in more than 120 regions and countries up to the end of January. Taiwan secured the top spot with a score of 82 out of 100.
According to Nikkei, the higher a country or area scores, the closer it is to recovering from the effects of the pandemic.
While the index considered Taiwan’s infection and inoculation rates, as well as its less-strict social distancing measures, the overall score of 82 was the result of losing six points due to flight restrictions, as revealed by global air transport industry data provider, Cirium.
Currently, Taiwan imposes strict immigration regulations in response to the pandemic, resulting in a large decrease in inbound flights.
The other top five nations in descending order are Cambodia with a score of 78, United Arab Emirates with 77.5, China with 77 and Ireland with 71.5.
According to the index, Cambodia made a huge leap in its ranking in the wake of declaring that the nation would live with the virus three months ago, jumping from 22nd in December 2021 to second place.
Other nations whose ranking improved in the wake of unconventional policies include Thailand, which jumped 11 spots to 19th on the index after announcing the revival of the nation’s quarantine-free entry tourism program for vaccinated travelers on Feb. 1.
Joining Thailand’s reopening is New Zealand at 12th place, which also announced a phased reopening on Feb. 3.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel