Greece fell an unenviable 19 spots, within a month, on Bloomberg's Covid Resilience index, which ranks the best to worst places in the world to live amid the ongoing pandemic.
Last month, the country was in 31st place, falling to 50th in December, ahead of only Peru, Argentina and Mexico. The poor showing is due to a significant increase in the number of daily fatalities, percentage wise, as well as an extension of a partial nationwide lockdown into the holiday season.
The index evaluates only 53 countries, leaving out most of the developing or so-called "third world".
Bloomberg rates how countries manage the public health crisis, along with state efforts to avoid a disruption of the economy and social life, using 10 criteria. The index also evaluates coronavirus-related figures, such as the fatality rate and number of confirmed infections.
Another criterion is the effectiveness of the health care system in each country and the impact of restrictions on its economy, as well as freedom of movement for citizens.
The first trio of countries on the index are all among the most advanced, economically liberal and robust democracies on the planet, with New Zealand retaining first place; Taiwan rises to second place after overtaking Japan - which fell to seventh - while Australia remained in third place. The island-state of Singapore is also in the top five, meaning that four of the first five countries are located in the Asia-Pacific basin.
