eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Public Health Research 2327-6703 2021-12-20 10 1 22 26 10.12691/ajphr-10-1-4 AJPHR20221014 article Umnia Hasib 1 Fatih Sekercioglu fsekercioglu@ryerson.ca 1 School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada Between March 2020 to March 2021, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) exposed the readiness and reactivity of global healthcare systems. Analyzing various countries in each continent showed a delayed strict response to the novel respiratory virus had more considerable consequences with COVID-19 related cases, intensive care unit admissions and deaths than nations with strict and swift lockdown procedures. It is a stark reminder for countries to dedicate public health protocols and have unified government responses and supply chains that can quickly adapt to minimize damage to their citizens' social, economic, and physical health and well-being. This is already relevant with the rise of variant strains, particularly with the impact of the rising wave of the COVID-19 and its variants. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajphr/10/1/4/ajphr-10-1-4.pdf COVID-19 lockdown response public health