Sri Lanka has been ranked second in terms of Covid-19 pandemic prevention measures, economic recovery and international cooperation among 108 countries, according to a survey by YICAI Research Institute, a well-known Chinese financial think tank.

The report released on September 22, is the highest international recognition so far for Sri Lanka in fighting the coronavirus.

Nine out of the top 10 countries were in the Asia-Pacific region namely China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Myanmar, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Ghana from Africa ranked third. Denmark and Germany performed best among European countries, ranked 21st and 23rd.

“Brazil and the US, both countries with leaders who initially downplayed the problem and with lower levels of co-operation by the public respectively are ranked 89th and 98th. Sweden, which opted for the controversial policy of herd immunity, came in at number 90,” the report said.

The Institute used the SEIR epidemiological model to predict the state of the pandemic in different nations, classing them as Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious or Removed, as well as its own self-developed “social network-based virus transmission model”. The evaluation system including 23 detailed indicators had made quantitative evaluation of the performance of 108 countries in the war against COVID-19.

Countries with strict epidemic prevention policies, such as China, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Italy, all had the pandemic under control in recent months, the models showed, which based their calculations on earlier disease trajectories and with the assumption that asymptomatic cases continued to be present.

“Until an effective vaccine is widely available, the novel coronavirus will co-exist with humans. Effective governance that responds quickly using technological means and which can depend on public support is an effective strategy to deal with the pandemic,” the report said.

YICAI Research Institute is part of the China’s largest financial media conglomerate Yicai Media Group (“Yicai” is the Pinyin abbreviation of its official Chinese name, meaning first and best in financial and business media). Founded in July 2003, Yicai employs a team of 1,000 journalists and professionals specializing in finance and economics and runs over ten overseas stations, sending real-time financial and economic news coverage back to its headquarter from New York, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Paris etc., around the world. In 2015, e-commerce tycoon Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group took a 30 percent stake in Yicai.