Commuters wearing protective masks wait for public transport vehicles in Quezon City, Philippines, 12 February 2020. (Photo by EPA/ROLEX DELA PENA/MaxPPP)
The world is being ripped apart by the Covid-19 disease which has hospitalized over 341,000 people and killed nearly 15,000 worldwide, according to latest reports.
Borders are being sealed to prevent transmission. Community quarantines are prevalent causing panic buying among those who have purchasing power. But many daily wage earners, even if they panic, have nothing to buy.
This is the predicament of many Filipinos. A 2018 report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimated17.6 million Filipinos live below the poverty threshold of 10,727 pesos (US$215). The figure is the average family income for 2018. The average monthly food threshold for a family of five was estimated at 7,528 pesos (US$150), says the report.
These families are daily commuters. They ride buses and jeepneys to get to work. They also comprise the sector that is badly being hit by Covid-19.
The government has implemented measures to contain the spread of the disease and to cushion its effect on local businesses and workers. President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the entire archipelago under a “state of calamity,” which allows him and local government units wide latitude to utilize and appropriate funds in efforts to combat Covid-19.
The president also placed the entire National Capital Region (NCR) under mandatory enhanced community quarantines. Metro Manila has already declared a 24-hour quarantine.
But are these enough to defeat the unseen enemy?
The battle against Covid-19 is not merely a legal or political battle. It is, first of all, a medical concern. And the Philippines is not yet ready to fight a battle with a pandemic of this magnitude.
Extreme community quarantines affect the transport of medical professionals and health workers going to hospitals. Many were not able to go to work during the first few days of the lockdown. It took days for the government to set up pickup points from where trucks and buses could take frontline staff to hospitals. The ordeal does not end here.
According to a 2018 healthcare report, the ratio of hospital beds per population is only 1:800 in the nation’s capital, with almost 13 million inhabitants.
The report adds that the Philippines only has 101,688 hospital beds in 1,223 hospitals nationwide. Therefore, if only a slight fraction of the country’s 107 million people was infected by the virus, hospitals would be jam-packed.
The availability of medical equipment is another issue. There’s a severe shortage of ventilators and test kits. Covid-19 patients use ventilators once the virus affects their respiratory systems. With other medical conditions that need ventilators like patients with pneumonia or stroke, how will the government provide equipment to the public?
In Quezon City, for example, mayor Joy Belmonte sent three Covid-19 patients home due to lack of isolation rooms in the hospitals where they were supposed to be confined. Many were disturbed. The patients came from urban poor communities. Sending them home poses a greater threat to their respective communities.
By statistics alone, the Philippines is not ready for a pandemic.
Private individuals have called for donations through social media to gather masks, hand sanitizers and packed meals to be donated to doctors and nurses. Many have donated to foundations and charities to aid medical practitioners defeat the virus.
Now that the virus has started to spread in provinces and throughout the entire archipelago, one can only hope and pray that the country’s medical system will remain steadfast despite the gargantuan task of isolating and testing Covid-19 patients.
Three doctors have already succumbed to the virus. A number are in critical condition. With the number of deaths increasing, how can a developing country defeat this virus? One can only hope and pray that at least, if infected, he or she has still reason to live.
