Local Government Responses for COVID-19 Management in the Philippines

Abstract

Background: Responses of subnational government units are crucial in the containment of the spread of pathogens in a country. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine national government through its Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases outlined different quarantine measures wherein each level has a corresponding degree of rigidity from keeping only the essential businesses open to allowing all establishments tooperate at a certain capacity. Other measures also involve prohibiting individuals at a certain age bracket from going outside of their homes. The local government units (LGUs){municipalities and provinces{can adopt any of these measures depending on the extent of the pandemic in their locality. The purpose is to keep the number of infections and mortality at bay while minimizing the economic impact of the pandemic. Some LGUs have demonstrated a remarkable response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to identify notable non-pharmaceutical interventions of these outlying LGUs in the country using quantitative methods.Methods: Data come from public databases such as Philippine Department of Health, Philippine Statistics Authority Census, and Google Community Mobility Reports. These are normalized using Z-transform. For each locality, infection and mortality data (dataset Y ) are compared to the economic, health, and demographic data (dataset X) using Euclidean metric d = (x - y)2, where x ∈ X and y ∈ Y . If a data pair (x; y) exceeds, by two standard deviations, themean of the Euclidean metric values between the sets X and Y , the pair is assumed to be a 'good' outlier.Results: Our results showed that cluster of cities and provinces in Central Luzon (Region III), CALABARZON (Region IV-A), the National Capital Region (NCR), and Central Visayas (Region VII) are the 'good' outliers with respect to factors such as working population, population density, ICU beds, doctors on quarantine, number of frontliners and gross regional domestic product. Among metropolitan cities, Davao was a 'good' outlier with respect to demographic factors. Conclusions: Strict border control, early implementation of lockdowns, establishment of quarantine facilities, effective communication to the public, and monitoring efforts were the defining factors that helped these LGUs curtail the harm that was brought by the pandemic. If these policies are to be standardized, it would help any country's preparedness for future health emergencies.

The Environment Encouraging COVID-19 Response at Public Health Centers and Future Challenges in Japan

“…They faced difficulties due to people's reactions, such as unresponsiveness to calls from local public health authorities, reluctance to disclose information because of lack of trust in the government, and limited operational resources of health departments [12]. It is indicated that local governments play a critical role in confronting COVID-19, and understanding the mechanism of the response to COVID-19 in local areas is necessary [13,14]. However, there are limited studies on COVID-19 response and the challenges faced by local governments in the front line.…”