Taiwan’s early, aggressive intervention measures have limited the outbreak to just 393 confirmed infections and six deaths. She then set up an epidemic command center, ramped up production of personal protective equipment such as face masks and restricted all flights from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Taiwan is claimed by Beijing as its territory and shunned by the World Health Organization, so it should have been highly vulnerable to an epidemic originating in mainland China.īut when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen heard about a mysterious new virus infecting the citizens of Wuhan in December last year, she immediately ordered all planes arriving from Wuhan to be inspected. Take Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people – with roughly the same population as Australia – off China’s east coast. They have implemented widespread testing, easy access to quality medical treatment, aggressive contact tracing and tough restrictions on social gatherings. These countries – all multi-party democracies with high levels of public trust in their governments – have contained the pandemic through early, scientific intervention. The success of these and other women-led governments in dealing with a global pandemic is all the more noteworthy, given that women make up less than 7% of world leaders. They are scattered across the globe: one is in the heart of Europe, one is in Asia and the other is in the South Pacific.īut they have one thing in common: they’re all led by women. In New Zealand, the prime minister took early action to shut down tourism and impose a month-long lockdown on the entire country, limiting coronavirus casualties to just nine deaths.Īll three places have received accolades for their impressive handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Germany has overseen the largest-scale coronavirus testing program in Europe, conducting 350,000 tests each week, detecting the virus early enough to isolate and treat patients effectively. In Taiwan, early intervention measures have controlled the coronavirus pandemic so successfully that it is now exporting millions of face masks to help the European Union and others.

Leftover Women by Leta Hong Fincher