Pakistan ranked second on Economist’s normalcy index

January 20, 2022 (MLN): Pakistan has been ranked second in the Economist normalcy index which tracks the global return to pre-pandemic life, showing great resilience against the COVID-19 pandemic.

To note, out of 50 countries, the country topped the Economist’s world normalcy index in its second evaluation.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar praised the country’s ranking on the normalcy index adding that Pakistan is the only country in the world to be in top three in all three evaluations.

Egypt took the first spot in the normalcy index due to its successful economic reform program and effective handling of the virus.

The index offers some evidence about how people are responding to restrictions in real-time by using eight different indicators of human behavior that include; Time not at home, retail footfall, office occupancy, public transport, road traffic, flights, cinema and sports attendance.

The new coronavirus variant, Omicron, that turned out to be highly transmissible, poses enormous challenges for governments, the report noted.  In America, cases are at three times their previous peak in January 2021, hospitals are as busy as they have ever been and deaths have risen by 40% in two weeks to 1,800 per day.

Meanwhile, China has recorded just one death from covid in the past 12 months and fewer than 17,000 cases, it added.

Copyright Mettis Link News