The countries that have responded best to the pandemic offer lessons to others for 2021,
argues Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party
Covid-19 has shone a harsh light on failures of leadershipNO NATION, AND no government, would have found this pandemic easy to deal with.
And none has performed perfectly. However, as we reflect on 2020 it is undeniable that
some countries have handled the virus better than others and that there are lessons all
governments must learn. Crucially, we must learn to co-operate better. This is not a race
in which a single country will emerge the winner, nor a virus we can fight alone.
This has been an extraordinary year for us all. In Britain, I was elected as leader of the
opposition during the height of the pandemic. We have all had to adapt, and observe
developments as this virus spread. We have also had to look and learn from the traits
that have enabled some countries to respond more effectively than others.
The first is leadership. Across the world, public trust, confidence and willingness to
change behaviour all stem from good leadership. In a time of crisis people look to their
leaders for reassurance and direction. New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern has led with
honesty, clarity and compassion while communicating in new and innovative ways. In
doing so, she has built a sense of unity and common purpose—her “team of 5m”—which
will define those countries that adapt best to the post-pandemic world.
Equally, covid-19 has shone a harsh light on failures of leadership: those dodging blame,
dividing communities or undermining public-health advice. In America, three-quarters
of the public say the country is now more divided than before the pandemic. In Britain,
Boris Johnson’s failure to sack his chief adviser for breaking lockdown rules saw public
confidence in his government’s response plummet. It is now the lowest among 14
advanced economies.
Research from previous crises shows that people are willing to make sacrifices for their
community, but leadership is key. It must be authentic and accountable, as exemplified
by the Danish prime minister’s press conference for children, or the way South Korea
named those responsible for each element of its plans.
Speed is crucial, too. This pandemic thrives on inaction. The most obvious and
devastating impact of that inaction is the cost to life. Recent research found that
delaying lockdown by a single week across eight countries would have cost more than
half a million lives. It is now accepted that many countries were too slow in moving to
suppress the virus. The British government was not only slow into lockdown, but slow
to protect the elderly in care homes and slow to deliver a functioning testing system. By
contrast, countries with low death tolls were characterised by fast lockdowns, quick
roll-out of testing and swift adoption of technologies to trace outbreaks.
The final dividing line has been preparedness. Nothing has killed more humans
throughout history than infectious disease. And covid-19 was not even the first
pandemic in this century. The warning signs were there—SARS, MERS, H1N1.
Preparation is not just having a plan on a shelf, though. Singapore reportedly copied
Britain’s pandemic plan but, according to one health official, “actually implemented it”.