摘要
Government leaders have struggled to reduce the infection and deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)as well as to keep the economy and businesses open.There is a large variation of mortality and damage to economy among countries.One possible cause leading to the large variation is the manner in which countries have delt with COVID-19.Some countries or regions such as China,New Zealand,and Taiwan,acted quickly and aggressively by implementing border closures,lockdown,school closures,mass testing,etc.On the other hand,many European countries,United States,and Brazil delayed their decisions to implement these restrictions and measures.No study has assessed the correlation between gross domestic product(GDP)and COVID-19 mortality.In the present study,there was a negative correlation between GDP and COVID-19 mortality suggesting that countries that failed to control the virus(larger COVID-19 mortality)would see a larger decline in GDP.Governmental leaders should act fast and aggressively when making decisions because data shows that countries who have run after two hares have caught neither.Furthermore,citizens of each country need to do their own part by following guidelines and practicing social distancing and mask wearing,which are considered the most effective,easiest,and cheapest measures that can be taken,so that repeated lockdowns can be avoided.
