IT is not a pandemic, although the World Health Organization (WHO) has further raised its alert level, with cases reported in some 60 countries so far, out of 195 countries in the world.
Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III, in an assessment of the world coronavirus situation, said WHO reported that nine countries, including the Philippines, reported no new cases of COVID-19 in two weeks. But there are new cases of persons under investigation (PUI), as many Filipinos coming home from countries with the infestation, have been required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Long before any warnings from WHO, the secretary said, the Philippines had prepared action plans to meet any development. For example, he said, Alcala, Pangasinan, was immediately quarantined when a case was found in the town. The DOH has issued itemized guidelines to be followed in case any person arriving from a country with confirmed coronavirus cases exhibits fever and respiratory illness.
The DOH has scaled up the preparedness of the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine in case there is need for more trained people to check for COVID-19, he said, and it is levelling up the capacities not only of national but also of local government hospitals.
The Philippines was the first country outside of China to report a coronavirus death – a Chinese visitor from Wuhan – but there has been no other deaths since. The virus, it seems, has moved on to other countries in the world and it is feared many of these countries, such as those in Africa, may not be ready to handle the cases with the kind of hospital care available in China or Singapore.
With so many unknowns about how the virus spreads from person to person and the still unsuccessful searches for a vaccine, there is great concern in the United States where cases have now been reported in Washington State on the western coast of the country.
The economic costs have been soaring, with stock markets around the world plunging. The epidemic has closed down many factories in China and elsewhere, with consequent plunging of exports of raw materials to these countries.
The coronavirus remains a health problem in the US and other countries where it has now been reported. To us in the Philippines, it has become now more of an economic problem, with its effects on manufacturing, on tourism, and on the employment of hundreds of overseas Filipino workers of these closed industries and businesses.
Along with our program to meet the health problem, we should now plan for the looming economic problems, particularly those facing our Filipino workers here and abroad
