Pakistan stands third in Economist’s ‘Return to Normalcy’ Index

Pakistan is ranked third out of 50 nations in The Economist’s Global Return to Normalcy Index.

The Economist’s “normalcy index” seeks to identify which nations are returning to pre-pandemic levels by evaluating each country on eight indicators: time spent away from home, retail, office usage, public transportation, road traffic, flights, movie attendance, and sporting event attendance.

Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted a screenshot of the Economist Return to Normalcy Index on Twitter on Wednesday morning, writing, “Congratulations to NCOC members, Ehsaas team & State Bank of Pakistan for successful reaction to Covid 19 epidemic; and above all gratitude to Almighty Allah’s compassion.”

Congratulations to NCOC members, Ehsaas team & State Bank of Pakistan for effective response to Covid 19 pandemic; and above all thanks to the mercy of Almighty Allah. pic.twitter.com/C8vQP4D9ku

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 7, 2021

Time spent away from home, shopping, office use, public transportation, road traffic, flights, movie attendance, and sports attendance are among the eight characteristics used to assess the nations.

The index has been set at a score of 100 for pre-pandemic levels of activity, with Pakistan ranking third with 84.4 out of 100. While Hong Kong is ranked first with a score of 96.3, New Zealand is placed second with a score of 96.3.

Today, it is 66 (out of 100), indicating that the globe has returned approximately half of the way to pre-pandemic life,” according to The Economist.

Pakistan’s National Command and Operation Centre eased restrictions again on June 28. As of July 5, Pakistan has 963,660 coronavirus cases, with 22,427 individuals died as a result of the fatal disease.