The challenges of the proliferation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the globe were indubitably sudden and unforeseen. No country around the world was spared from this demise. Although more countries have taken drastic measures—mass testing, contact tracing, government-induced quarantining, early restrictive measures in international flights—to curb the effects brought by the pandemic, the Philippines has more or less blind to assess the crisis in the lens of a nation that is supposedly to “promote the common good” of its constituents. Instead, it was the government’s plan to “command control”, that is instituting lockdown, emergency powers, checkpoints and curfew as ways to contain the outbreak. Instead of focusing on solutions that would instill proper public health procedures, military authority became prevalent.
As Filipinos grapple with the eventuality that the new normal will never be the same as the normal that we were used to, it is safe to say that we alternately succumb to the plans of the government in exchange for definite solutions and tangible results. Others, however, got the shorter end of the stick. Some families find it harder to suppress hunger than to be more mindful of the enemy. Some clamor for their basic human rights to be observed. Some healthcare workers die an onerous death to help the affected. Some grieve of the extinct jobs that were once theirs. Some express their dissents on social media regarding the poor policy planning of the government. Some convened a big mañanita party amidst the IATF rules of social distancing and mass gathering. Some abuse their political powers to escape the consequences of their actions. Some bore the brunt of criticisms as they disregard social distancing measures to get their measly ayuda. Some complain of the supposed-to-be travels that they planned along. Some relationships got tested as everyone argued whether Tatay Digong should be commiserated, praised, or otherwise. Whatever our stimuli are, we all suffer because of an invisible nemesis.
Undeniably, the novel coronavirus did not escort a list of inadequacies, inequalities, inconsistencies, and inaccessibilities in the current nation’s situation but rather exposed a flawed system that we already have in our nation and in our society.
Philippines ranked 66th in terms of suppressing coronavirus pandemic
The Lancet, an established medical journal, ranked Philippines 66th out of 91 countries around the world regarding the efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Published on September 14, the study “Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly”, rankings among countries were based on incidence or the number of new cases per million population per day. It also assessed mortality rates per country, the tests performed, as well as the effective reproduction rates (ERR) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The analysed data showed that the Philippines has more or less 37.5 cases per day, with deaths tolling to up to 0.5 per day. However, from these cases, only 8.2 are tested. The data also showed that the Philippines has an ERR of 1.2. As of the moment, there are 296,755 cases in the Philippines, and deaths amounting to 5,127.
Sources: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/philippines/
The most notable countries that were able to suppress the virus in a span of months are Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Uganda, Togo, Pakistan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Uruguay, South Korea, Finland, Cuba and Rwanda. Most of these are the Philippines’ Southeast Asian and East Asian neighbors as well as those with economies similar to the Philippines’.
The Lancet pointed out a key non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) checklist that helped quell the spread of the virus in these countries. The use of face masks, practicing personal hygiene and physical distancing proved to be effective. Banning of large public events, giving special protection to populations who are more vulnerable to the virus (health-wise and socially), testing methods (such as rapid, comprehensive, free) with follow-up on tracing and isolation, and quarantine and isolation instructions all helped in flattening the curve better. Aside from these, the countries who successfully suppressed the virus also provided social support for those in isolation and social protection for those who are helpless against hunger, unemployment, and mental health problems. These countries also designated safe schooling, safe working, and safe public transport guidelines. But the most remarkable lesson that other countries could take note is that successful countries banned international flights early and promoted public awareness, trust, and appropriate risk communication. Community leadership and community health workers are given much importance rather than being focused on the guidelines performed by several law-implementing bodies.
Many of these solutions have already been instituted in various countries in the Asia-Pacific region (most of which are by lower-income countries) and championed the effective ways in flattening the curve and decreasing the cases, thus the aim to be practiced and adopted in other countries worldwide.
‘Medical populism’
One reason for failure to suppress the pandemic, according to The Lancet journal, is owed to ‘medical populism’. This is a style of leadership exhibited by the governments of US President Donald Trump, the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro. As defined by Lasco in the Lancet’s journal, political leaders who uses medical populism is “simplifying the pandemic by downplaying its impacts or touting easy solutions or treatments, spectacularizing their responses to crisis, forging divisions between the ‘people’ and dangerous ‘others’, and making medical knowledge claims to support the above”.
This results in the gaps in the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and also breeds misinformation to the populace. This has been the topic of the nation especially when President Duterte recently made a remark that masks should be cleaned with petrol, or just slapping the ‘veerus’ is enough to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Other ideas of his that made headlines recorded that it might also be beneficial to spray the whole Philippines with pesticide from an aeroplane to ‘kill the virus’, which is obviously not a scientific claim and not something a leader of a country should say.
What lessons can be derived from the Philippines’ neighbors?
As evidenced by the stories of several news sites and stories seen on the streets of the Philippines, Filipinos all follow the simple regulations and safety protocols of hand washing, wearing face masks—even the wearing of face shields—as well as guidelines of social distancing. The decision now rests on what the Philippine government will do to help its citizens and to help curb the inevitable effects of the pandemic situation in ways reminiscent of that of other Southeast Asian countries.
Medical solutions should be more prioritized. Apart from listening to the credible advice of medical professionals and other experts who are schooled regarding the SARS-CoV-2 locus, professional healthcare providers should also be given proper compensation for the sacrifices they make to lessen the cases here in the Philippines.
President Duterte and other personnel in his government and those that comprise the Inter-Agency Task Force should not take advantage of the fear of its citizens regarding the current situation and use these to advance their political interests. President Duterte, in particular, should not just rely on his own lapses of judgments in giving useful facts that matter to the people. His remarks, more or less, politicizes the pandemic management situation in the Philippines thereby delineating relevant facts from nonsense whims by relegating it as mere Dilawan versus DDS dialogue.
The implementation of strict, although irrelevant in the current Philippine context, community quarantine measures and following health guidelines can only do so little if these are not coupled with actual plans and interventions by the government. After all, people cannot always be forced to stay at home because of the need to find ways to sustain daily living needs. This would be the case especially to those who belong in the poorer sectors of society.
Wait for a future COVID-19 vaccine or cure?
Waiting for a vaccine or the cure seems like a far-fetched possibility especially considering how the Philippines is currently taking the matters in their own hands. Also, there are various factors that might compel countries like the Philippines to find alternatives and certain plans to contain the coronavirus sooner. First, since most of the vaccines either use the weakened form of the microorganism, or by using an inactive version of the microorganism which then provides immunity to the infected, or through the use of genetically-engineered DNAs and/or RNAs of the said microorganism. After these are isolated, laboratory testing as well as clinical trials will further be employed to ensure the validity and effectiveness of a vaccine. As such, we can infer that the development of a SARS-CoV-2 virus may run through a long course, leaving the hopes of waiting for the said vaccine a bleaker possibility.
Apart from this said aspect, the The Lancet also recommended not to rely on “herd immunity by natural infection” to suppress the pandemic. Herd immunity is the term used by medical field experts to refer to the protection other people can get against a virus after a percentage of an infected population becomes immune. Because to achieve such a threshold means that more deaths will likely happen and that 40-60% of the population will be infected prior--a case so costly that no country can afford.
Lastly, the term ‘vaccine nationalism’ may also account in the procurement of vaccines amidst all other countries who need the vaccine. As such, socio-economic and political factors will likely be present among and within countries. For instance, the developed countries may likely have more opportunities to acquire the developed vaccine or cure. Or that those in the higher brackets of society— the privileged and the elites— in a country may likely get the vaccine first than those who are not.
What can we hope for in the coming months?
Less than a hundred days are left before 2020 will end but the future of the COVID-19 pandemic situation here in the Philippines has a hazy denouement. What Filipinos can hope for is an active dialogue between the citizens and the government. As a summary of all the interventions the Philippines’ neighbors did to contain the coronavirus, more testing kits should be given to the public, contact tracing should be scientifically and systematically facilitated, cash aids and other government ayuda should continue, and health concerns should be prioritized rather than gatekeeping dissenters of the current Duterte’s regime.
References:
Huong, L.T. (2020, April 30). Vietnam: A Successful Battle Against the Virus. Asia Unbound. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/blog/vietnam-successful-battle-against-virus
Vitug, M.D. (2020, March 27). [ANALYSIS] Coronavirus lessons from Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/256117-analysis-lessons-from-japan-south-korea-vietnam
Lancet COVID-19 Commission Statement on the occasion of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. (2020). The Lancet. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2820%2931927-9
Rodrigo Duterte: ‘I’m not joking - clean masks with petrol’. (2020, July 31). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53605108
Malasig, J. (2020, September 22). From slapping ‘veerus’ to spraying pesticide: How Duterte’s remarks against COVID-19 have evolved. Interaksyon. Retrieved from https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2020/09/22/177364/from-slapping-veerus-to-spraying-pesticide-how-dutertes-remarks-against-covid-19-have-evolved/
Worldometer. (2020). Total Coronavirus Cases in the Philippines. [data and graphs]. Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/philippines/
COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine: Get the facts. (2020, September 10). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-vaccine/art-20484859
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