PH Ineffective Against Coronavirus Even With Tight Lockdown
PH VS COVID-19 – Despite the strict quarantine protocols, the Philippines has reportedly been ineffective against dealing with the coronavirus.
For several weeks, the Philippines has been under an “Enhanced Community Quarantine“. However, due to the lack of aggressive testing, contact tracing, and treatment of patients, things aren’t going anywhere.
The number of COVID-19 cases has continued to rise even with the strictest lockdown in the entirety of Asia. Meanwhile, countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan have already showed signs of flattening the curve.
The Facebook page “A Radical’s Nut” highlighted how the Philippines had the largest decline in “Public Mobility”. This is categorized by six factors:
- Retail and recreation
- Grocery stores
- Pharmacies
- Transit stations
- Workplaces
- Residential areas
Based on a report from Nikkei Asian Review, the country had the largest average decline of public mobility at around 50.83%. Moreover, the Philippine Government’s restrictions caused:
- 85% decline in transit stations
- 79% in retail and recreation
- 71% in workplaces
India ranked second only to the Philippines with a public mobility decline of 47.83%. However, even with these restrictions, the Philippines was reported to be ineffective in dealing with the virus.
Meanwhile, the country’s with fewer restrictions such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam were exponentially more effective in combating the viral outbreak.
Taiwan had a 2.16% decline in public mobility, South Korea had 11%, and Vietnam with a 29.5% decline. These figures are likely due to their aggressive testing and contact tracing.
In contrast, the Philippines and India had the lowest number of test per million people with 1,379 and 1,042 tests done respectively.
South Korea had 12,773 tests per million, Taiwan had 2,790 tests, and Vietnam had 2,681 tested per million. Here are the graphs:
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