Pakistan has been ranked 3rd in the Economist Global Normalcy Index among 50 countries. The Economist’s Normalcy Index aims to determine which countries are returning to their pre-pandemic levels quickly.
The Economist used eight indicators- Time at home, public transport, sports attendance, cinema, road traffic, flights, retail, and office use. Normalcy Index nose-dived in March 2020 when the majority of the country had imposed restrictions on the movement of its citizens. “Today it stands at 66 (out of 100) suggesting that the world has traveled roughly half of the way back to pre-pandemic life,” The Economist adds.
The Economist states:
“Our index covers 50 of the world's largest economies that together account for 90% of global GDP and 76% of the world's population. Our aggregate measure is the population-weighted average of each country's score.”https://t.co/18sd9r2UuA
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) July 5, 2021
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The list scored countries out of 100. Hong Kong topped the list with a 96.4 score out of 100. New Zealand ranked second with an 87.8 score while Pakistan landed at third spot with an 84.4 score.
“Hong Kong and New Zealand – two places that have implemented effective measures against the coronavirus and suffered relatively few deaths – are currently at the top of our tables,” the report states.
Pakistan scored over 100 in the category of “retails”, “office use”, “time spent at home” and “public transport”. However, it scored low in “flights” and “cinema”.
Pakistan controlling the spread of Covid
Pakistan has been running a mass vaccination drive in the country with vaccination being opened for youth as well.
National Command and Operation Centre implemented effective policies to control the spread of coronavirus in the country. The government of Pakistan has been relaxing COVID-19 restrictions in phases.
Pakistan’s daily coronavirus lead went below the 1000 cases mark in a day for the first time in six days as the country reported 830 new cases on Tuesday morning.
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Currently, the COVID-19 positivity rate is at 2.22% in Pakistan. The total number of active cases of coronavirus in Pakistan is currently 33,930.
However, on Monday NCOC warned of strict restrictions following violations in several sections after relaxation in the curbs.