When women lead, the virus loses

Today I became aware of a country Id never heard of before Sint Maarten somewhere in the islands of the Caribbean Its only 34 sq km in size and has a mere 42844 people but its a full fledged parliamentary representative democracy Its prime minister is a 51yearold teacher called Silveria JacobsThis littleknown dot of an island welcomes 500000 tourists a year Watching the COVID19 pandemic sweeping the world on March 11 Silveria Jacobs extended travel restrictions from 14 to 21 days The next day she postponed the Carnival a major festival that would have attracted thousands Five days later on March 17 a French couple returning from France to their home in Sint Maarten brought the novel Coronavirus back with themSilveria Jacobs prime minister of Sint Maarten that has just 77 COVID cases and 15 deathsSint Maarten has only two ICU beds If the virus took hold it could quickly overwhelm the islands healthcare system Jacobs did not want to lock her country down and knew that strict distancing alone might keep the pandemic at bay On April 1 she spoke to her people delivering a threeword message Simply Stop Moving she said If you dont have the bread you like in your house eat crackers Eat cereal Eat oats Eathellip sardinesAs I write this Sint Maarten has had a total of 77 coronavirus infections and only 15 deathsSix other countries have acted swiftly and decisively and kept their death rates down Taiwan 7 deaths New Zealand 22 Iceland 10 Finland 323 Norway 238 and Germany 8776 Dont be misled by Germanys larger number mdash it only reflects its much much larger population compared to the other countries Together these countries represent the best most efficient empathetic and effective responses to the pandemicAll six countries are led by womenTaiwans President Tsai IngWen New Zealands Prime Minister Jacinda Arden Icelands Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir Finlands Prime Minister Sanna Marin only 34 Norways Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Germanys Chancellor Angela MerkelTo this list lets add one of our own mdash Keralas remarkable Health Minister K K Shailaja hailed as the Corona Slayer She reacted early and swiftly flattening the death curve before it could even take off Compared to Maharasthra with 2969 deaths Kerala has seen only 15 people dieMatch these against the six worsthit countries in the world mdash Donald Trumps USA with over 2 million cases and 112469 deaths as of yesterday Jair Bolsonaros Brazil 2 in deaths Vladimir Putins Russia in third place followed by Boris Johnsons UK and Modis IndiaNotice anything All are headed by autocratic macho sciencedenying aggressive strongmen noted for their lack of empathy and humane instincts Their countries are paying a heavy priceSo heres my question are women better leaders than men when it comes to solving a complex problem like a pandemic Would we be better off with more women in powerIts true that countries like South Korea Thailand Vietnam and Greece led by men have also kept death rates down And at least one womanled country Belgium has seen overwhelming deathsBut if its not their gender that makes them better leaders during a pandemic what else could it be Consider these images mdash Jacinda Ardern PM of New Zealand apologising for her casual home clothes as she streams Facebook live videos telling Zelanians Were all in this together Her approach of putting kindness and saving lives first has paid rich dividends Unlike Trump she has not wasted time playing the blame game and her press conferences have been noncombativeDenmarks PM Mette Frederiksen posted a video of herself singing along with the weekly lockdown show while doing the dishesDr Zoe Marks professor at the Harvard Kennedy School says theres nothing inherently female about empathetic leadership Franklin Roosevelt was wellknown for his cosy fireside chats with America during the depressionRosie Campbell professor of politics at Kings College London says that leaders who have displayed humility and vulnerability against the pandemic have proven the most effectiveUnlike Ardern though Germanys Merkel is not famous for her warmth her PhD was in quantum chemistry Yet she went on TV and calmly explained the science behind her testing strategy to her fellow Germans in clear simple terms The same willingness to follow the science led Merkel and Icelands Jakobsdottir to push for a massive testing and contact tracing strategy Deaths were minimalWhile the worlds hypermasculine leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro belittle the crisis and applaud themselves for doing nothing to save no one a handful of women have been showing that a little humility a little warmth and a little science are what you need in the middle of a pandemicGermanys hospitals had so many unused ICUs that they began accepting patients from nearby France That should tell us somethingHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news