Factors Influencing Asia-Pacific Countries’ Success Level in Curbing COVID-19: A Review Using a Social–Ecological System (SES) Framework

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the impacts of institutional–human–environment dimensions on the outcome of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) abatement. Through the diagnostic social–ecological system (SES) framework, this review paper aimed to investigate what and how the multifaceted social, physical, and governance factors affected the success level of seven selected Asia-Pacific countries (namely, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and New Zealand) in combatting COVID-19. Drawing on statistical data from the Our World In Data website, we measured the COVID-19 severity or abatement success level of the countries on the basis of cumulative positive cases, average daily cases, and mortality rates for the period of 1 February 2020 to 30 June 2020. A qualitative content analysis using three codes, i.e., present (P), partially present (PP), and absent (A) for each SES attribute, as well as score calculation and rank ordering for government response effectiveness and the abatement success level across the countries, was undertaken. Not only did the standard coding process ensure data comparability but the data were deemed substantially reliable with Cohen’s kappa of 0.76. Among 13 attributes of the SES factors, high facility adequacy, comprehensive COVID-19 testing policies, strict lockdown measures, imposition of penalty, and the high trust level towards the government seemed to be significant in determining the COVID-19 severity in a country. The results show that Vietnam (ranked first) and New Zealand (ranked second), with a high presence of attributes/design principles contributing to high-level government stringency and health and containment indices, successfully controlled the virus, while Indonesia (ranked seventh) and Japan (ranked sixth), associated with the low presence of design principles, were deemed least successful. Two lessons can be drawn: (i) having high number of P for SES attributes does not always mean a panacea for the pandemic; however, it would be detrimental to a country if it lacked them severely, and (ii) some attributes (mostly from the governance factor) may carry higher weightage towards explaining the success level. This comparative study providing an overview of critical SES attributes in relation to COVID-19 offers novel policy insights, thus helping policymakers devise more strategic, coordinated measures, particularly for effective country preparedness and response in addressing the current and the future health crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Situation in Malaysia: Lessons Learned from the Perspective of Population Density

“…However, as humans are social creatures, isolation is costly and unwieldy as a permanent measure. The severity of an outbreak is also dependent on factors, such as swift containment measures, the demographics of the population, access to healthcare, and adherence to precautionary measures (see [ 35 , 36 ]). As a passive strategy, the sustainability of existing city- and urban-planning policies may warrant revisiting in order to make cities more resilient against future contagions.…”

Country-Level Governance Indicators as Predictors of COVID-19 Morbidity, Mortality, and Vaccination Coverage: An Exploratory Global Analysis

“…Although governance is an important factor in influencing a country’s success in combating the pandemic, socioeconomic status is also insightful as it helps policymakers to develop strategies and measures to protect their country currently and in the future. 45 When a country healthcare system is at maximum capacity (e.g., Bosnia, Pakistan, India), the legitimacy of the government is challenged (e.g., Egypt), and with trust issues between the government and other actors, 46 finding the true values of COVID-19 statistics will be challenging.…”

COVID-19 Severity and Neonatal BCG Vaccination among Young Population in Taiwan

“…Our study contributes to the existing literature about the null effect of BCG vaccination against COVID-19. On this occasion, while most countries all over the world are actively implementing a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination plan, we would like to remind that optimal infection control policies and social ecological system [36][37][38], including the enforcement of containment measures of border control, quarantine policy, testing strategy of risk groups, intensive contact tracing, discouraging mass gathering, and the wide use of personal protection equipment, are still crucial in eliminating this disastrous pandemic.…”