After a rapid response in the spring before a single death earned Greece praise for an early lockdown against COVID-19,  Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ hesitation in bringing a second while cases soared has seen the country’s safety record fall fast.

Greece 19 places, to 50th among 53 countries, within a month, on Bloomberg's Covid Resilience index, which ranks the best to worst places in the world to live amid the ongoing pandemic.

That came after a fall in November to 31st as cases, deaths and the number of people in public hospital Intensive Care Units (ICUs) rose as the government didn’t move as promised to commandeer private hospitals.

A more lenient second lockdown that saw near normal traffic in the streets and pedestrian walkways despite police attempting to identify violators further worsened the health record as a second wave of the Coronavirus spun out of control.

Greece is now ahead of only Peru, Argentina and Mexico for the quality of life during the pandemic, and with the second lockdown already extended to at least Jan. 7, 2021 and longer if the epidemiological data doesn’t improve by then.B

Bloomberg rates how countries manage the public health crisis, along with state efforts to avoid a disruption of the economy and social life, using 10 criteria. The index also evaluates coronavirus-related figures, such as the fatality rate and number of confirmed infections, said the Greek business newspaper Naftemporiki.

Another criterion is the effectiveness of the health care system in each country and the impact of restrictions on its economy, as well as freedom of movement for citizens.

The top tier for best quality of life and Coronavirus safety is led by countries that took and kept strict steps to control it without giving priority to keeping their economies afloat at all costs, led by New Zealand.

Taiwan was second after overtaking Japan, which fell to seventh while Singapore is also in the top five, meaning that four of the first five countries are located in the Asia-Pacific basin for COVID-19 safety.