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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWith a doctorate in quantum chemistry, Merkel\u2019s clear, calm\nexpositions \u2013 a clip of her explaining the scientific basis behind the\ngovernment\u2019s lockdown exit strategy was shared thousands of times online \u2013 have\nalso helped propel public approval of the fourth-term chancellor\u2019s handling of\nthe crisis above 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In nearby Denmark, meanwhile, the prime minister, Mette\nFrederiksen, acted equally firmly, closing the Scandinavian country\u2019s borders\nas early as 13 March, and following up a few days later by shutting all\nkindergartens, schools and universities and banning gatherings of more than 10\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That decisiveness appears to have spared Denmark the worst\nof the pandemic, with fewer than 8,000 confirmed cases and 370 deaths.\nFrederiksen\u2019s no-punches-pulled speeches and clear instructions to the nation\nhave been widely praised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She even managed to show a sense of fun, posting a clip on\nFacebook of herself doing the dishes while singing along to the 1980s Danish\npopsters Dodo and the Dodos during the nation\u2019s weekly TV lockdown singalong.\nThe Scandinavian country\u2019s youngest-ever prime minister, whose approval ratings\nhave doubled to more than 80%, has now begun easing its lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan\u2019s president Tsai Ing-wen responded equally fast,\nactivating the country\u2019s central epidemic command centre in early January and\nintroducing travel restrictions and quarantine measures. Mass public hygiene\nmeasures were rolled out, including disinfecting public areas and buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In all, Taiwan adopted 124 control and contain measures in\nweeks, making a full lockdown unnecessary. It has reported just six deaths, and\nis now dispatching millions of face masks to the worst-struck parts of the US\nand Europe. Tsai\u2019s warm, authoritative style has won her plaudits, even from\npolitical opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Norway, with 7,200 cases and 182 deaths, this week began\nrelaxing its restrictions by reopening kindergartens. The prime minister, Erna\nSolberg, told CNN she had made a point of \u201cletting scientists make the big\nmedical decisions\u201d, adding that she thought her country\u2019s early lockdown and\nthorough testing programme had been key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Confirmed deaths of Covid-19 for selected countries<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Showing the number of deaths since the day of the first one,\nusing a log scale. Data correct at 23.59 UTC 24 April<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following an example set earlier by Frederiksen, Solberg\nalso took the unusual step of directly addressing the country\u2019s children, telling\nthem in two press conferences \u2013 from which adult journalists were banned \u2013 that\nit was \u201cpermitted to be a little bit scared\u201d and that she, too, missed being\nable to hug her friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Iceland, under the prime minister, Katr\u00edn\nJakobsd\u00f3ttir\u2019s, leadership, has offered free testing to all citizens, not only\nthose with symptoms, and has recorded 1,800 cases and 10 deaths. Some 12% of\nthe population has taken up the offer, and an exhaustive tracing system has\nmeant the country has not had to close schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The world\u2019s youngest head of government, Finland\u2019s prime\nminister, Sanna Marin, also moved decisively to impose a strict lockdown,\nincluding a ban on all non-essential travel in and out of the Helsinki region.\nThis has helped her country contain the spread of the virus to just 4,000 cases\nand 140 deaths, a per-million toll 10 times lower than that of neighbouring\nSweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all the women who have excelled in the corona crisis are\nnational leaders. Jeong Eun-kyeong, the unflappable head of South Korea\u2019s\ncentre for disease control, has become a national icon after overseeing a\n\u201ctest, trace, contain\u201d strategy that has made the country the world\u2019s\ncoronavirus role-model, with daily infections in single digits and a death toll\nof less than 250.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeong, a former rural doctor dubbed \u201cthe world\u2019s best virus\nhunter\u201d, has delivered no-nonsense daily press conferences, including\ndemonstrating the ideal way to cough. While these have won praise, her work\nethic \u2013 she has left an emergency operations bunker only for quick visits to a\nfood truck \u2013 has prompted concern for her health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever conclusions we may draw from these leaders\u2019\nperformances during the pandemic, experts caution that while women are\n\u201cdisproportionately represented to a rather startling degree\u201d among countries\nmanaging the crisis well, dividing men and women heads of state and government\ninto homogenous categories is not necessarily useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complicating factors may be at play. Kathleen Gerson, a\nprofessor of sociology at New York University, notes, for example, that women\nleaders are more likely to be elected in \u201ca political culture in which there\u2019s\na relative support and trust in the government \u2013 and that doesn\u2019t make stark\ndistinctions between women and men. So you\u2019ve already got a head start\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, it may be harder for men to escape \u201cthe way\nthey are expected to behave\u201d as leaders, Gerson told The Hill website. And\nsince the very best leaders are both strong and decisive and capable of\ndisplaying feeling, women could, perhaps, \u201clead the way in showing that these\nare not competing and conflicting attributes, but complementary \u2013 and necessary\nfor good leadership\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Jon Henley and Eleanor Ainge Roy (theguardian.com) On 1 April, the prime minister of Sint Maarten addressed her nation\u2019s 41,500 people. Coronavirus cases were rising, and Silveria Jacobs knew the small island country, which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[319,320],"class_list":["post-1264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-female-leaders","tag-managing-crisis"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/graph.jpg?fit=1024%2C747&ssl=1\")
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