How well a country has responded to Covid-19 is not explained by the country’s economic power or scientific capacity, but by how its people relate to one another and their government, according to preliminary findings of a research study.

“Countries with traditions of acting in concert against social problems, and countries with histories of deference to public authorities, fared better on compliance than countries lacking either or both,” the researchers wrote.

Investigators compared characteristics of 23 countries on six continents, considering outcomes related to disease burden, economic impact and disparities. In the United States, rated as one of the poorest-performing countries, “the virus ‘exploited’ pre-existing weaknesses” in public health, the economy and politics.

Before the pandemic, numerous reports and congressional testimony “recognized vulnerabilities that became apparent during Covid-19,” another study found, including threats of viruses emerging from animals, economic disruption, inadequate stockpiles and vulnerability to global supply shortages. For that study, researchers compiled more than 1,200 pre-pandemic records in an expanding online library that was introduced on Tuesday — Health Security Net — in the hopes that it will “inform future planning and response efforts.”

Another team, studying five countries in Africa, found that national leaders there had quickly recognized the threat from the virus and imposed measures to limit its importation and spread. “That managed to at least curtail the outbreak,” said Wilmot James, a Columbia University research scholar who was one of the study’s principal investigators, “but the impacts on the economies were quite devastating.”

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a four-year-old institution modeled in part on its U.S. counterpart, was unique in providing technical assistance for an entire continent.

The research reports were released Tuesday in conjunction with a two-day symposium, the Futures Forum on Preparedness, supported by Schmidt Futures and the Social Science Research Council.

— Sheri Fink The New York Times