Itisimpossibletoreflecton2020withoutdiscussingCovid-19.Theterm,literallymeaningcorona-(CO)virus(VI)disease(D)of2019,hasbecomesynonymouswith“thevirus”,“corona”and“thepandemic”Theimpactofthevirusonourlivesisunprecedentedinmodernhumanhistory,intermsofscale,depthandresilience.Whencomparedtootherepidemicsthathaveplaguedtheworldinrecentdecades,Covid-19isoftenreferredtoasbeingmuchmore“deadly”andisassociatedwithadvancesintechnologywhichscientistshavedescribedas“revolutionary”Frompoliticstoeconomics,spanningfamiliesandcontinents,Covid-19hasunsettlednorms:culturalclashesareintensified,politicsareevenmorepolarized,andregionaltensionsandconflictsareontherise.
Globaltradepatternsandsupplychainsareincreasinglybeingquestionedandredrawn.Theworldisbeingatomized,andindividualsareforcedtoacceptthe“newnormal”intheirroutines.
Inanattempttocombatthevirusandminimizeitsdetrimentaleffects,countrieshaveundertakendifferentpreventivestrategiesandcontainmentpolicies.SomehavesuccessfullycurbedthespreadofCovid-19,whilemanyothersremaininlimbo,doingtheirbesttorespondtooutbreaksincases.
TogainabetterunderstandingofhowtofightCovid-19,itisimperativetoevaluatethesuccessandfailuresoftheseapproaches.Underwhatconditionsisanapproachsuccessful?Whenshoulditbeavoided?Howcanthisinformationbeusedtoavoidfuturepandemics?
Thisvolumeoffersinformativecomparativecasestudiesthatshedlightonthesekeyquestions.Eachcountrycaseisperceptivelyanalyzedandincludesadetailedtimeline,allowingreaderstovieweachresponsewithhindsightandextrapolatethedatatobetterunderstandwhatthefutureholds.Takenasawhole,thiscollectionoffersinvaluableinsightatthiscriticaljunctureintheCovid-19pandemic
