Is Your Country Ready for the Coronavirus?

Thirteen days ago I posted a link to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Global Cases interactive map. On that day (January 23rd) the map was reporting 555 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus and 17 deaths. Today the map is reporting 24,597 confirmed cases and 942 deaths.

In the last thirteen days confirmed cases of the Coronavirus have been reported in many more countries around the world. The relative cheapness and popularity of international air travel means that a virulent outbreak, such as we are now witnessing with Coronavirus, is capable of quickly spreading across borders and to all corners of the world. The ease with which a virus might spread around the globe is one reason why the Global Health Security Index was started.

The Global Health Security Index assesses the abilities of countries around the world to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. It is designed to spur improvements in national health security and improve how countries respond to infectious disease outbreaks, international epidemics and pandemics.

The GHS Index Map can give you some idea about how prepared countries across the world are to respond to a the threat of an infectious disease. The map colors 195 countries around the globe based on how ready they are to prevent, detect and respond to epidemics of potential international concern. The map shows overall scores for health security and individual health security scores in a number of different categories.

The United States is ranked number one, indicating that of the 195 countries on the map, it is the most capable of preventing, detecting and responding to the outbreak of an infectious disease. If you select a country on the map you can click-through to view how it scores in all the different categories used to determine its overall Global Health Security Index ranking.