Table 3.

The response of various countries in COVID-19 pandemic management [as of December 2020]. (Infection status data – WHO, 2020a; Tests per million data – Worldometer, 2020).

Country	Cumulative infected cases	Cumulative death cases	Transmission classification	Tests per million of population	Technology oriented tracking system implemented		Unique measures	Lessons learned	References
					Category	Functionality
Australia	28,296	908	Sporadic cases	519,697	App (COVIDSafe)	Contact-tracing	Digital contact-tracing methods, National COVID-19 coordination commission, Human Biosecurity emergency	Progressive increase in travel ban restriction, enforcing strict lockdown, extensive testing together with vigorous tracing with the aid of technology can ultimately defeat the spread. As a whole, consistent effort since the emergence of infection is needed to tackle the pandemic	(Australian Government, 2020)
China	96,324	4,777	Clusters of cases	111,163	App (Alipay Health Code)	Contact-tracing, Allots health color code to individuals	Rapid response by building new medical infrastructure and helped other countries in combating the virus	Need to report the outbreak immediately to the WHO and analyze the pathogen to find a methodology to effectively vitiate it. Expanding the medical infrastructure and following the preventive measures is highly helpful. Preventing the people traveling from the outbreak area is necessary to contain the disease within the outbreak region	(Business Insider, 2020; BBC, 2020a; The New York Times, 2020b)
France	2,507,532	62,197	Community transmission	715,275	App (StopCovid)	Contact-tracing	Digital method to trace the infected individuals	Avoid annual gathering events irrespective of importance, postpone elections for the betterment of humanity. Public gatherings make the tracing very difficult	(BBC, 2020b; The Washington Post, 2020b)
Germany	1,640,858	29,778	Clusters of cases	484,895	App (Corona Data Donation)	Monitor the infection, tracing	Overall effectiveness is good in implementing the measures as it is reflected in lesser number of deaths comparatively	Must not under-estimate any pathogen especially when it turns out to be an outbreak. The sooner the implementation of lockdown, the lesser the infection has the potential to spread. Imposing huge fines also helps in persuading the people to follow the restrictions	(Robert Koch Institute, 2020)
India	10,187,850	147,622	Clusters of cases	145,437	App (Aarogya Setu)	Contact-tracing	The nation wide lockdown was imposed in spite of fewer infected cases initially. Easing the export of medicine to other countries	Public cooperation in all aspects is of utmost. Relaxed Lockdown will be of no use and stringent measures should be imposed in the containment zones. Vigorous testing is crucial in populous countries and awareness also plays a role in bringing cooperation in combating the pandemic	(The Print, 2020; The Week, 2020)
Iran	1,194,963	54,574	Community transmission	114,869	App (AC19)	Location-based diagnosis app	Good preparations and managed to contain the infection despite the lack of funds	Earlier lift of lockdown must be avoided until the pandemic is well under control. The lack of public cooperation in maintaining the social distancing and following the preventive measures will ultimately increase the infection	(MIT Technology Review, 2020a)
Italy	2,038,759	71,620	Clusters of cases	571,236	App (Immuni)	COVID community alert	Best healthcare efforts and extensive testing	Public gatherings, sports events are some of the main hotspots where the infection can be traced back. Avoiding public gathering is vital and lockdown measures should be implemented as the infection begins to rise	(Anadolu Agency, 2020; AP News, 2020a)
New Zealand	1,788	25	Clusters of cases	312,890	App (NZ COVID Tracer)	Contact-tracing	Canceled every public gathering event, widest-ranging and toughest border restrictions	Tightening the restrictions stage by stage as of shifting gears in the car at the right time has resulted in an excellent performance in fighting against the pandemic. Less infected cases, very lower number of deaths, and effective approaches towards people were the outcomes of the measures taken	(The Guardian, 2020b)
Singapore	58,519	29	Sporadic cases	1,115,486	App (Trace Together)	Contact-tracing	Very low deaths for such number of confirmed cases indicating effective handling of infected persons	Response to the pandemic such as imposing the lockdown must be as early as possible. Technology can help in mitigating the spread indirectly. Testing is the key to control the pandemic. Public involvement and cooperation in following preventive measures is vital.	(Singapore Government Agency, 2020)
South Korea	56,872	808	Clusters of cases	116,722	Mapping	Tracks individuals phone data to create a map to show the regions of infected persons	Ground breaking tracing methods in all possible aspects from interviewing to tracking phone data, credit card data	One of the largest and best-organized epidemic control. Established various methods to screen the people. The cycle of testing, extensive tracing, isolating the infected person and quarantining those who contacted the infected person is perfectly carried out to control the pandemic.	(Ekong, Chukwu, & Chukwu, 2020)
USA	18,648,989	328,014	Community transmission	979,909	App (Private Kit: Safe Paths)	Contact-tracing	The rapid response through large quantities of testing and tracing though the infection has peaked in the USA	Underestimation of the pandemic should be avoided. Lockdown is vital and is the only weapon that ultimately directs towards victory or else community spread will result	(AP News, 2020a, 2020b; The Washington Post, 2020a)