Here are top 10 countries that battled COVID pandemic the best

A study has put New Zealand at the top of the list that arranged countries on the basis of how effective their response to coronavirus was. The top 10 countries have some surprises just as bad position assumed by developed nations in the list.

The study was carried out by Lowy Institute, a think tank in Australia. The page having interactive representation of the study says that the study was carried out "with publicly available and comparable data on the virus have managed the pandemic to date following their hundredth confirmed case of COVID-19"

"Countries have been sorted into broad categories — by regions, political systems, population size, and economic development — to determine whether significant variations exist between different types of states in the handling of the pandemic." says the Lowy Institute website.

The rankings feature 98 countries from all corners of the world.

It's probably not a surprise that New Zealand bagged the top spot. The country was coronavirus-free when the world was in the thick of the pandemic. At a time when hard lockdowns were imposed across the world, New Zealand was able to resume public activities as the pandemic was brought under control. New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern was praised for the country's response to the pandemic.

Some countries have made surprise appearance in the top 10. Africa is often seen as the most 'backward' continent. But Rwanda managed to bag the sixth position.

It was not a surprise that the USA received poor marks. The most powerful nation in the world was placed at 94th position among 98 countries in the list. The UK was at 66th position. The first European country to feature on the list is Cyprus at number 5.

Here are the top-10 countries in the list

1. New Zealand

2. Vietnam

3. Taiwan

4. Thailand

5. Cyprus

6. Rwanda

7. Iceland

8. Australia

9. Latvia

10. Sri Lanka