Six months into lockdowns, Malacañang believes that the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic deserves a “very good grade.”
“I would give it a grade of 85 percent,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque when asked to assess the Philippines’ COVID-19 response.
He noted the country’s low case mortality rate, which currently stands at 1.7 percent as one of his basis for this grade,
“Yan naman po ang importante kapag may pandemya, dapat alagaan ang karapatan mabuhay ng mga mamamayan,” he explained.
[What’s important during the pandemic is being able to take care of the citizenry’s right to live.]
Moreover, Roque said the country’s healthcare system is not overwhelmed by the pandemic, proof that the country has a handle on the health crisis.
Department of Health (DOH) data as of September 13 reveals the availability of intensive care unit (ICU) beds rests at 50 percent, isolation beds at 56 percent, and ward beds at 52 percent. Ventilators, meanwhile, have a 73 percent availability rate.
The official also praised the country’s testing efforts, with recent data showing the Philippines already has conducted over 3 million tests to date, covering more than 2.9 million individuals.
However, he recognized that contact tracing efforts of the country must be immediately improved.
