Government decisions to contain the pandemic and its effects on world merchandise trade

The outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) deepened the slowdown in international trade, as decisions taken by governments to contain the spread of the virus hurt economic activity by slowing production or even stopping it altogether. The objective of this article is to analyze the level of severity of the restrictive public health measures applied by governments to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of these decisions on world merchandise trade. The strictness index is used as an indicator of the severity of the measures applied by the countries, calculated daily based on the score of nine metrics, whose values range between 0 and 100;as well as the annual growth rates of world merchandise trade. The results reveal that most countries recorded the strictest and longest lockdowns when there were no vaccines, simultaneously experiencing sharp declines, to varying degrees, in their merchandise trade growth rates;In conclusion, it is observed that, as the vaccination campaigns progressed, the end of the confinement was closer, as was the recovery of economic-commercial activity and employment © 2023, Revista de Ciencias Sociales.All Rights Reserved.

Six Pivotal Lessons Learned in South Korea for Whole-of-Government Approach to Successful COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in Planetary Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that systems medicine depends on health systems and services that can respond to planetary health threats in scale and with speed. After 2 years of the pandemic, there are lessons learned in South Korea, from governance to risk communication for planetary health. The learning is timely because COVID-19 likely signals future ecological crises and emerging pathogens amid the climate emergency in the 21st century. By the end of March 2022, South Korea, with a population of 51.6 million, administered more COVID-19 vaccine doses per 100 people than other developed countries, including United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Israel, Germany, and United States. In South Korea, 233.47 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered per 100 people, while Italy (229.48), China (229.39), Australia (217.44), the United Kingdom (211.39), Israel (194.82), and the United States (170.59) fell behind in vaccine rollout. Korea's whole-of-government approach to robust COVID-19 vaccination rollout prompted broad interest in planetary health. Notwithstanding that vaccine rollout is a complex multifactorial outcome, six salient, and often interdependent, factors are identified in this study of South Korea: (1) governance system; (2) logistic capability; (3) delivery strategy and accessibility; (4) established public health infrastructure; (5) risk communication; and (6) public cooperation and engagement. Integration of these factors can create multisectoral synergy to achieve better outcomes in vaccine rollout. The lessons from South Korea can help cultivate planetary health action in other parts of the world during the current COVID-19 pandemic, and in ecological crises in the future.

The Case of China: The Societal Impact of the “Whole of Government Approach”

This article describes, from a sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural perspective, the governance practices of the COVID-19 epidemic control response in China. We describe that, in line with the “whole of government approach,” strong resource mobilization and control of government departments, companies, and citizen communities has worked efficiently to rapidly contain the epidemic. Community participation at the grassroots level has played a decisive part. We assume that the deeply rooted collectivistic Chinese culture has made residents trust the government’s decisions and comply with the prevention and control strategies. We pose some intriguing questions for more analytical comparative research. They concern the normative interpretation of the influences of sociopolitical, economic, and cultural forces, as well as the balance between “collectivism” and “individualism” in societies.