Flattening The Curve

FLATTENING THE CURVE?
How Philippines struggled amidst COVID 19 pandemic
By: Chris Armand N. Santiana
Impending lockdowns. Slow pandemic response. Millions of fatalities worldwide.

These are the unexpected happenings that shocked the world three years ago. The
pandemic that paused the global workforce causing millions of people to lose their job.
The pandemic that gave psychological trauma to people. The pandemic that killed
millions of people up until now.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption for the entire world as it spreads
day by day as it began three years ago. The majority of nations have to suspend their
economies in order to stop the spread of the virus, and the Philippines is one of those
nations that has slow implementation regarding the late enactment of the Enhanced
Community Quarantine on March 15, 2020.
Due to the outbreak, the government, particularly the Department of Health with
the Interagency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Disease implemented the
health and safety protocols in the country. Lockdowns, physical or social distancing,
home quarantine, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughing and sneezing, hand
washing, keeping unclean hands away from the face, contact tracing, wearing of face
masks, and vaccination during the third quarter of 2021 are some of the preventive
measures to reduce the danger of transmissions in public places.
Thus, the Philippines began taking a number of measures, including establishing

a community quarantine in Metro Manila that later spread to Luzon and other regions of
the country. Moreover, increasing the number of licensed testing labs nationwide from
one national reference laboratory run by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine
(RITM); and working to ensure that its healthcare system can handle surge capacity,
including for the funding of services and the management of cases requiring special
care.
DOH stated that the spread of the virus was slowed down by the lockdown, and it
appears that the Philippines is already flattening the curve. Although the number of
cases recorded in the country is no longer continually increasing, this does not
necessarily indicate that the Philippines is making progress in its fight against the
pandemic. To determine if a nation is ultimately winning the war, other factors must be
taken into account.
On the other hand, based on my firsthand experience on how the government

handled the pandemic response is quite ineffective towards the Filipino people.
According to the article from Rappler, data reveals that there are significant differences
between regions in the Philippines in terms of vaccination rates, contact tracing
capabilities, illness severity, hospitalizations, and death rates. Statistics showing that
almost four million cases and more than 60,000 fatalities have been recorded by WHO.
Furthermore, in an analysis of the country’s two years of dealing with the

outbreak, researchers identified geographic inequalities in the distribution of healthcare
resources, services, and results. When it came to controlling the COVID-19 outbreak,
some areas performed better than others. We discovered important lessons about
addressing health inequity by contrasting locations with one another.
The COVID-19 indicators used in national statistics do not provide a complete

picture of the burden of disease in the population. Aggregate data frequently conceal
significant regional gaps in health conditions and resource distribution. We can better
understand these differences if we know how COVID-19 therapies and results were
distributed globally.
For example, during the height of the pandemic, the different municipalities here
in Antique are struggling in distributing relief goods to people infected by the virus and
having their home quarantined. Many are not supported by the Local Government Unit
in which the relief goods, health care supplies, and the so called ‘ayuda’ is not enough
to feed a family with an average of five members.
Rather than these issues, the issue regarding the PhilHealth, DOH, and
Pharmally has arised amidst the rising cases. The massive corruption scandal to the
PhilHealth officials accused of pocketing an amount of approximately 15 billion pesos.
Former DOH secretary, Francisco Duque III and other officials were accused of
Pharmally corruption allegations on over-priced health care supplies.
This shows the gap of the government in prioritizing their hidden agenda, not
knowing that many Filipinos are starving to death while some politicians are thinking
how to cut the money of the people for their own benefit. It is alarming to know that
amidst the thousands of mortalities happening in the country, corruption in the system is
still present.
The pandemic really fits on the criteria of hazard in which it poses danger and
harm not only to the people but also the entire global economy and workforce. The
health risk towards us, made us worry about getting infected and spreading it to our
loved ones without knowing that we are already contracted by the virus. Many people
died because of the complications caused by the virus. The danger of the pandemic
also affects the psychological well-being of every individual in which the mental health
was affected and other mental illnesses boomed during that time. While on the other
hand, the global economy is also in the line of risk in increasing inflation rate because of
the disruption brought by the outbreak.
Hence, the pandemic brought hazards towards the society, this particularly refers
to the biological hazard that struck the global community. Biological hazards produced
by organisms that harm human health that may cause possible fatality rate in a
community (WHO, 2020). Yet, this hazard can bring a fear towards humanity because
of the threat that it can give worldwide crises. This hazard can take down the economy if
the government does not respond well towards the situation.
When the pandemic started to spread last December 2019 at Wuhan China, our
government should already initiate a state of calamity in which the closing of the borders
from countries that are infected by the virus. If this initiative had been carried out earlier
when the COVID-19 was still starting, there is a huge possibility that we could prevent
and contain the spread of the virus. We may not guarantee 100% that we can prevent
the spread of the virus, however we can lessen the number of deaths here in the
Philippines.
As a global community, we must work hand in hand towards the betterment of

our society without any hidden agenda. The government should coordinate with the
people to get their insights and suggestions on what to do. We as a nation should
prioritize the welfare of each Filipino in promoting safety and prevention amidst any
crisis.
The pandemic brought hardships towards the lives of every Filipino however, we
are still resilient in finding hope from the darkness that the virus brought. As Filipinos,
we must open our eyes to what is really happening in our country. We must not be
blinded by the weak actions of the government because we deserve our safety. As the
pandemic is still ongoing, we must still be responsible enough for our actions. With the
new leaders in the government; we must not let them corrupt our minds. We are
Filipinos, we are not bare minimum; a good governance is what we truly deserve.

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FLATTENING THE CURVE?

How Philippines struggled amidst COVID 19 pandemic

By: Chris Armand N. Santiana

Impending lockdowns. Slow pandemic response. Millions of fatalities worldwide.

Thus, the Philippines began taking a number of measures, including establishing

On the other hand, based on my firsthand experience on how the government

Furthermore, in an analysis of the country’s two years of dealing with the

The COVID-19 indicators used in national statistics do not provide a complete

As a global community, we must work hand in hand towards the betterment of

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