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For billions of people around the world, life as we knew it came to an abrupt halt in March 2020. Aiming to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, over 100 countries around the globe instigated lockdowns while others imposed severe and unprecedented restrictions. Normally busy streets suddenly fell quiet. In many places the eerie silence was broken only by the sound of ambulances ferrying the sick to overwhelmed hospitals, or by people singing from their balconies or standing at their front door to applaud health care workers. Never before have so many people been simultaneously gripped by fear and uncertainty. Around the world, government leaders struggled to slow the virus’s spread. Yet by April 2020 it was becoming clear that some countries were faring far better than others in dealing with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: on a per capita basis, both cases and deaths varied greatly by nation …