This chart shows how 25,000 scientists around the world rate their own governments COVID-19 response

[Han-Tang]

source：https://web.archive.org/web/2020111...governments-following-the-science-on-covid-19
Are governments following the science on covid-19?


MAX WEBER, a German sociologist, contended that politics and science do not mix. Today, with the covid-19 pandemic raging around the globe, governments have little choice but to enter this unhappy marriage. A survey by Frontiers, a Swiss publisher of scientific journals, asked some 25,000 researchers in May and June whether lawmakers in their country had used scientific advice to inform their covid-19 strategy. The results offer some support for Weber’s thesis.

According to the survey, researchers in New Zealand are most satisfied with policymakers. More than three-quarters of respondents agreed that Jacinda Ardern’s government, which closed the country’s borders and imposed a strict lockdown in early March, has taken expert scientific advice into account. Little wonder, as New Zealand has eliminated the virus twice. Ms Ardern’s response has been popular with voters, too. On October 17th she won a landslide victory in the country’s general election. Researchers in China, where the virus originated in December, were similarly pleased. Germany, whose chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a chemist, also scored well.


Elsewhere, governments received lower marks. In Britain, where the government has repeatedly said its decisions are “led by the science”, less than a quarter of researchers said that policymakers have listened to their advice. This is not merely because the country has suffered one of the most severe outbreaks in the world. Several countries with higher rates of covid-19 deaths, including Belgium and Spain, fared better in the survey. There is little sign that science has become more influential since the survey was undertaken. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, is still out of step with his advisers. On October 31st he announced a second lockdown for England, more than six weeks after aides urged him to do so.

The countries hit hardest by the pandemic have been those where policymakers have strayed furthest from scientific recommendations. In Brazil, for example, most researchers believe expert advice has been disregarded. In America, which appears at the bottom of the Frontiers ranking, Donald Trump has dismissed his public-health advisers as “idiots”, mocked face masks and suggested that the disease might be treated with injections of disinfectant. Mr Trump’s successor has signalled that he will be more receptive to scientific advice. On November 7th, in his first speech as president-elect, Joe Biden promised to “marshal the forces of science” to fight the coronavirus.

 

[hualushui]

There are a few American red necks on the PDF, they do not agree with this survey