The Complexity of Managing COVID-19: How Important Is Good Governance?

This paper highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of public health systems worldwide, casting a shadow that we could not have imagined even a year ago. Moreover, a parallel problem may well exceed the direct death toll from the virus. This is the growing economic crises globally and the prospect that these may hit emerging economies especially hard. This essay takes stock of the policies adopted by governments in emerging economies, and what effect these governance strategies may have had, and then speculates about what the future is likely to look like and what we may do here on.