Using hierarchical clustering analysis to evaluate COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and performance in 180 countries in 2020.

COVID-19 fatality can be a good proxy for countries' resources and system's resilience in managing the pandemic. These findings suggest that countries' economic and sociopolitical factors may behave in a more complex way as were believed. To explore these complex epidemiological associations, models can benefit enormously by taking advantage of methods developed in computer science and machine learning.