8 Underrated Female Leaders Who Smashed COVID-19

Female politicians from different parts of the world have become a global sensation. Many of these women turned the COVID-19 pandemic in their favour with their smart policies and proactiveness. These female leaders deserve more praise for nipping the pandemic in the bud. Some of them showcased empathy and put people first while dealing with the pandemic. Even though some of these female leaders are now struggling against the second wave of the pandemic, their work is worth all the claps and more. Let us give some of these underrated women a massive shoutout for their praiseworthy work.

Here's a list of all those female politicians who deserve more recognition for handling the pandemic:

Tsai Ing-Wen

The world has praised Tsai Ing-wen for effectively handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Infact, Taiwan was the first country to alert the World Health Organization (WHO) against COVID-19. The Taiwanese president took full control over disinfecting public spaces, implementing travel restrictions and practicing social distancing. The country reported just 7 deaths in a vast population of about 23 million people. After Taiwan successfully handled the pandemic, it started masks to many European countries and the United States.

Sanna Marin

Sanna Marin is currently the youngest Prime Minister of Finland. She deserves attention for making social media influencers spread health awareness and safety protocols regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Marin sailed her country smoothly through the first batch of infections. Moreover, the Nordic nation made use of an Emergency Act which was last implemented in the second world war. This helped the government to implement stringent measures.

Sanna Marin and her cabinet members conducted public briefings in order to communicate their COVID-19 strategies with the public directly. Finland's efficient medical system made it possible for health workers to deliver the utmost care to the patients. The government's "test and track" service initiated testing of people who had the slightest COVID-19 symptoms. This information was then passed on to the epidemiological units contacted each person who was tested for the purpose of 'contact tracing.' This is how the confirmed cases were tracked down and kept under mandatory quarantine.

Mette Frederiksen

Frederiksen was proactive in dealing with the coronavirus. As the prime minister, she shutdown Denmark's borders on 13 March 2020. She closed schools, universities and banned public gatherings. Her clear communication with the masses helped Denmark's citizens to deal with the pandemic smoothly during the first wave of infections.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir

The Prime Minister of Iceland started gearing up against the virus as early as January. The country went on a testing spree as soon as the first case of the virus was detected. Health personnels telephoned suspected people who contacted the infected person, initiated social distancing and contact tracing. The government also got in touch with companies working in genetic research. Authorities also started contact tracing with the help of an app in April. These measures gave Iceland the "highest ratio of tests per capita in the world" tag.

Mia Mottley

Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados emerged as one of the game changers in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. She showed the world how inspite of having meagre heath facilities, Barbados was able to control the pandemic. The country has had just 7 deaths ever since the coronavirus stepped into Barbados. The stringent testing, tracking and social distancing measures worked wonders for Barbados.

Zuzana Caputová

Caputová is an anti-corruption activist cum lawyer who became the youngest president of Slovakia in 2019. Her government imposed a strict lockdown within 10 days of detecting Slovakia's first COVID-19 case. This tiny European nation managed to murder the virus inspite of having a mediocre health system. The active cases in the country were a little lower than 1,500. Besides that, Zuzana Caputová normalised the safety trend of wearing face masks in the public. Unlike Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, Slovakia's leaders didn't shy away from donning the mask.

Danasri Anasuya

Telangana's MLA Danasri Anasuya was more concerned of how the pandemic would lead to more empty stomachs. She started distributing free food and groceries to about 475 villages in Telangana's Mulugu district. The MLA and her team would start early in the day and supply food to 20 villages per day. She even initiated a 'GoHungerGo' campaign on Twitter which subsequently helped in raising funds for the poor.

Erna Solberg

Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg was applauded for talking to school children for conveying her safety measures in a gentle manner. There were two such press conferences that were conducted to raise awareness about the coronavirus among children. She invoked early lockdowns in the country and let expert scientists make all the sensible decisions.

Also Read: 5 Times Indian Politicians Shamed Women 

Anoushka Das is an intern at SheThePeople.TV.