Policy responses and government science advice for the COVID 19 pandemic in the Philippines: January to April 2020

Vallejo, Benjamin; Ong, Rodrigo Angelo C.

doi:10.1016/j.pdisas.2020.100115

Cited by 74 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Also, compared to the most populous countries [ 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ], the measures taken by the Brazilian government were not efficient to contain the advancement of COVID-19, and took longer to enter into force ( Figure 2 ). After the first case, on December 31, 2019, COVID-19 was rapidly reported by the Chinese government, on January 31, 2020, to the WHO, which, in turn, warned about the risk of a new pandemic.…”

Section: Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

One Year of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil: A Political and Social Overview

Boschiero

Palamim

Ortega

et al. 2021

Annals of Global Health

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Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) became the deadliest pandemic of the new millennium. One year after it became a pandemic, the current COVID-19 situation in Brazil is an example of how the impacts of a pandemic are beyond health outcomes and how health, social, and political actions are intertwined. Objectives:We aimed to provide an overview of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, from a social and political point of view, and to discuss the perspectives from now on. Methods: This is a narrative review using official, scientific (PubMed, Medline, and SciELO databases) and publicly available data. Press articles were also used that contain important information not found in these databases. Findings:We address the impacts of COVID-19 in different regions of Brazil, on indigenous populations, health care workers, and how internal social contrasts impacted the pandemic's advance across the country. We also discuss key points that culminated in the country's failed management of the COVID-19 spread, such as poor management of the public health care system, disparities between public and private health care infrastructure, lack of mass testing and viral spread tracking, lack of preparedness and planning to implement strict isolation and social distancing measures, and, most importantly, political instability, a deteriorating Health Ministry and sabotaging attitudes of the country's president, including anti-scientific actions, underplaying COVID-19 severity, spreading and powering fake news about the pandemic, promoting knowingly inefficient medications for COVID-19 treatment, and interference in collective health policies, including the country's vaccination plan. Conclusions:After one year of COVID-19 and a disastrous management of the disease, Brazil has more than 11 million cases, 270,000 deaths, and the highest number of daily

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Section: Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

One Year of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil: A Political and Social Overview

Boschiero

Palamim

Ortega

et al. 2021

Annals of Global Health

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“…Out of the 106 million Filipinos, around 431,630 have been infected with COVID-19 resulting in 8392 fatalities (Center for Strategic & International Studies, 2020 ). The public health emergency compelled the Philippine government to implement community quarantine procedures to reduce the doubling time of COVID-19 infections, prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, create emergency facilities for sick and convalescing people, and reduce deaths (Vallejo & Ong, 2020 ). The COVID-19 pandemic strained the social fabric, threatened the health care capacity of the country, and put the faith of numerous Filipino Catholics to the test.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dungaw: Re-imagined Religious Expression in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Castillo

Castillo²,

Corpuz

2021

J Relig Health

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Expressions of religious piety have been practiced in the Catholic Church as a response to plagues and pandemics. The faithful seek comfort in prayer and appeal to God and the saints for mercy and protection from illness and loss of life. In the Philippines, the veneration of sacred images and placing them outside the window of a house or a church is a religious expression known as "dungaw” (to look out). This paper discusses “dungaw” as a faith-response of Filipino Catholics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is an empirical phenomenology that consists of a literary review and interviews. This paper analyzed the significance of the religious expression “dungaw.” Four areas of inquiry were identified: (1) Views on the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) “Dungaw” and prayer life during the pandemic, (3) “Dungaw” as a religious expression, and (4) “Dungaw” and communal life. Results showed that Filipino Catholics utilized religion as a coping resource during turbulent times. Filipino Catholics also embodied traditional values to help repair the frayed social fabric during COVID-19.

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“…Various NPIs have been implemented in the country, with the timing and level of restriction varying by region. The NPIs implemented include different levels of community quarantines, including school closures 28 . Between October 2020 and March 2021, the Philippines shifted from a focus on community quarantine orders towards greater reliance on Minimum Health Standards (MHS) policies, requiring the proper use of face coverings, physical distancing, and hand hygiene.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding COVID-19 dynamics and the effects of interventions in the Philippines: A mathematical modelling study

Caldwell¹,

Lara-Tuprio²,

Teng³

et al. 2021

The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific

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Background: COVID-19 initially caused less severe outbreaks in many low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) compared with many high-income countries, possibly because of differing demographics, socioeconomics, surveillance, and policy responses. Here, we investigate the role of multiple factors on COVID-19 dynamics in the Philippines, a LMIC that has had a relatively severe COVID-19 outbreak. Methods:We applied an age-structured compartmental model that incorporated time-varying mobility, testing, and personal protective behaviors (through a "Minimum Health Standards" policy, MHS) to represent the first wave of the Philippines COVID-19 epidemic nationally and for three highly affected regions (Calabarzon, Central Visayas, and the National Capital Region). We estimated effects of control measures, key epidemiological parameters, and interventions.Findings: Population age structure, contact rates, mobility, testing, and MHS were sufficient to explain the Philippines epidemic based on the good fit between modelled and reported cases, hospitalisations, and deaths. The model indicated that MHS reduced the probability of transmission per contact by 13-27%. The February 2021 case detection rate was estimated at ~8%, population recovered at ~9%, and scenario projections indicated high sensitivity to MHS adherence.Interpretation: COVID-19 dynamics in the Philippines are driven by age, contact structure, mobility, and MHS adherence. Continued compliance with low-cost MHS should help the Philippines control the epidemic until vaccines are widely distributed, but disease resurgence may be occurring due to a combination of low population immunity and detection rates and new variants of concern.

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Policy responses and government science advice for the COVID 19 pandemic in the Philippines: January to April 2020

Cited by 74 publications

References 35 publications

One Year of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil: A Political and Social Overview

One Year of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil: A Political and Social Overview

Dungaw: Re-imagined Religious Expression in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Understanding COVID-19 dynamics and the effects of interventions in the Philippines: A mathematical modelling study

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