Not long after being deemed the world's most "eloquent" leader, Jacinda Ardern has now been named in a British magazine as one of the globe's top "thinkers".
Prospect, a UK political magazine, allowed the public to vote online for who they believed was the top thinker "for the COVID-19 age". After 20,000 votes, the crown went to someone New Zealanders aren't likely familiar with.
KK Shailaja is the health minister for the southern Indian state of Kerala and, according to Prospect, while the virus was just emerging, she "not only accurately foresaw [COVID-19's] inevitable arrival [in India], but fully grasped the implications".
"She rapidly got the WHO’s full 'test, trace and isolate' drill implemented in the state, and bought crucial time by getting a grip of the airports, and containing the first cases to arrive on Chinese flights," the magazine says.
"Of course the virus returned, but there was rigorous surveillance and quarantine - sometimes in makeshift structures. The public messages have been consistent, and Shailaja follows them to the letter, with social distancing in all official meetings (which can go on until 10pm) and restricting herself to a Zoom-only relationship with her grandchildren."
Kerala is still seeing a large number of COVID-19 cases, but the number of active cases is decreasing and just 0.39 percent of confirmed cases have died.
Coming in second was New Zealand's Prime Minister, "whose governing 'ethos of kindness' was drawing interest as a refreshing (if hazy) alternative to neo-liberalism even before it showed practical results in keeping a lid on the crisis".
"Her COVID-19 strategy - devised in lockstep with chief scientist Juliet Gerrard - built with intelligence and empathy on a foundation of unflinching honesty to achieve some of the world’s best results."
New Zealand has recorded just 1757 COVID-19 cases and had 22 deaths.
Behind Ardern is Bangladeshi architect Marina Tabassum, African-American philosopher Cornel West and political scientist Ilona Szabo de Carvalho.
It's not the first time recently Ardern has been praised on the world stage. In July, a British professional development company labelled her the most eloquent leader in the world due to her "empathetic leadership style".
