Critical country-level determinants of death rate during Covid-19 pandemic

Canatay, Arman; Emegwa, Tochukwu J.; Hossain Talukder, Md Farid

The COVID-19 pandemic has already led to over 94 million confirmed cases and over 2 million deaths globally (John Hopkins CRC, 2021). Due to the magnitude of the socio-economic damage of COVID-19 all over the world, we analyzed the critical country-level determinants of the death rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have examined the effects of GDP (allocated to pandemics and health), education, gender, cultural factors, number of physicians (per 1000 of the population) on the death rate. A correlation between the death rate and socio-economic conditions has been observed. The finding shows that power distance, individualism, gender, and age affect the death rate more than other socio-economic factors we use. We have also performed the same analysis by using Lockdown levels as a moderator. Lockdown levels have a more significant moderating effect on cultural factors rather than the other socio-economic factors. However, due to the topic's sensitivity, we still need to pay attention to the socio-economic factors that may have lower levels of significant relationship with the death rate, since even 0.1 % of changes in coefficients of our other socio-economic variables could mean thousands of lives. The study results will help health organizations, administration, and policymakers take the necessary steps to combat and manage the pandemic.