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Secrets of our Covid success: Weather, population and female leaders

An extensive study by researchers at the University of Queensland of the Covid-19 pandemic has discovered the reasons why some countries did better than others – and one was female leadership – but it’s probably best if you are not happy.

Jun 16, 2022, updated Jun 16, 2022
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (right) and former Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young may have been a factor in Queensland's Covid success (AAP Image/Darren England)

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (right) and former Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young may have been a factor in Queensland's Covid success (AAP Image/Darren England)

According to the study, countries with female leadership, like New Zealand, had 40 per cent fewer deaths than nations governed by men.

Associate Professor Dr Kelvin Tan from UQ’s Business School said although the study was done at a national level it could be extrapolated to explain why Queensland, with a female premier and Chief Health Officer during the crisis, was so successful in reducing the impact of the disease.

Tan said there were lots of other factors that played a part, such as warmer weather, population density, gender ratios, higher levels of political corruption and religious diversity, but he said the study of 91 countries showed female leaders acted more decisively and were more risk averse.

It’s like a parent with a sick child. Women tend to act quicker and be less conservative in their approach, he said.

An example was the difference between Australia and New Zealand. While Australia had five times the population of its neighbour it reported 13 times more infections and 36 times more deaths. New Zealand also has a female Prime Minister while Australia was led through the worst of the pandemic by Scott Morrison.

“We are not suggesting all leaders have to be female. What we are saying is that females in this particular case played a role in the mortality and the severity of the Covid cases,” Tan said.

“There are other characteristics that played a role.”

Having a higher ratio of men in the population was also a factor because men tended to have riskier behaviour and were more likely to be working.

Also, strangely, happiness was a factor, but not in a good way. Greater levels of happiness were closely correlated with higher income, greater social support from relatives and friends and greater freedom to make life choices.

“Thus higher levels of happiness may promote social interactions, leading to more infections and deaths,” the study said.

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“It is also plausible that people in happier countries may be more individualistic, place a higher value on pleasure and freedom and resist restrictions and inconvenient prevention measures such as wearing masks.”

A free media was also an issue.

“Our results reveal that the degree of media freedom is negatively correlated with Covid-19 cases, suggesting a strong and free news media can help prevent the spread of infectious diseases,” the study found.

However, it was also correlated with a higher number of deaths and the researchers suggested this may because it was more likely that countries with a free media correctly reported the number of deaths.

The study would be used to help drive policy changes such as land use and urbanisation.

 

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