PH ranks second lowest among 53 countries in COVID-19 resilience study

FILE PHOTO: A health worker conducts coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab testing at a gymnasium in Navotas City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The country has been ranked second to the lowest among 53 countries in terms of COVID-19 resilience according to Bloomberg. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has ranked 52nd out of 53 economies in a global study that measures the resilience of countries to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Ranking published on Tuesday, the Philippines ranked second to the lowest with a score of only 45.3, next to Argentina with a score of 37, based on latest data as of June 27.

The indicators considered in the study are the percentage of people who have been vaccinated, severity of lockdowns, flight capacity, vaccinated travel routes, one-month cases per 100,000 population, one-month case fatality rate, total deaths per 1 million people, and positivity rate.

Topping the ranking are the United States with a high resiliency score of 76, New Zealand with 73.7, Switzerland and Israel with 72.9, and France with 72.8.

Following these countries in the top 10 are Spain with a score of 72, Australia with 70.1, Mainland China with 69.9, the United Kingdom with 68.7, and South Korea with 68.6.

Meanwhile, among the worst countries in the latest ranking are Malaysia with a resilience score of 46.6, India with 47.7, Indonesia with 48.2, Colombia with 48.6, Pakistan with 50.7, Bangladesh with 51.3, Peru with 51.4, and Taiwan with 52.1.

“India, the Philippines, and some Latin America countries rank lowest amid a perfect storm of variant-driven outbreaks, slow vaccination, and global isolation,” said Bloomberg.

It added that the United States’ overall ranking “reflects a best-case scenario of high vaccinations, a waning outbreak, flight capacity nearing full recovery, and few travel curbs on vaccinated people.”

Bloomberg said the latest study introduces a new element in the ranking—reopening progress—which measures the ease of moving in and out of a place and the recovery of air travel.

As of Tuesday, the Philippines has already recorded a total of 1.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, composed of 50,037 active cases, 1.3 million recoveries, and 24,557 deaths. There were additional 4,479 new infections logged on Tuesday.

The country has administered a total of 10 million vaccine doses, including 7.5 million provided as first jabs. Over 2.5 million individuals have been fully vaccinated as of June 27.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the Philippines may reach its benchmark for herd immunity—or vaccinating 70 percent of the population—with 58 million to 70 million people receiving full doses by November.

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