Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday called Bloomberg’s new COVID-19 resilience ranking “unfair,” which once again the Philippines ranked last.
For the third consecutive month, the Philippines is still last on the list of 53 countries, even though the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped.
The Philippines at the end of the list includes other countries in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The ranking is based on 12 indicators such as virus containment, health care quality, vaccination coverage, and relaxation of travel restrictions.
“They sliced it off just when the Philippines was going to be the last. There are 200 nations in the world. Hindi ba naman kalokohan ‘yan?” said Duque.
“I really don’t understand that in so far as the COVID response is, maganda ‘yong COVID response,” he added.
According to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who serves as the Palace’s acting spokesperson, the ranking does not look at the context of COVID-19 in each country, saying that it is vital for the analysis of the pandemic response to be objective.
For vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Bloomberg must reconsider the parameters used in the ranking.
“I think there is an error,” he said.
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Bloomberg COVID-19 resilience ranking unfair – Duque
As of Wednesday, the Philippines recorded 500 additional COVID-19 cases for a total of 2,833,038 confirmed cases, of which 15,327 were active.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that travel bans enforced by various countries would not prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
It is said that it only becomes a burden to life and livelihood.
WHO reminds travelers to be proactive and guard themselves against any symptoms they may experience.
People who are sick and those who have not been vaccinated or had COVID-19 are advised to postpone travel to areas with Omicron community transmission.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus also called on countries to implement evidence-based measures and further intensify public health measures and vaccination of high-risk individuals.