The Philippines ranked 46th out of 53 countries in Bloomberg’s COVID resilience ranking, which measured how a nation handled the COVID-19 crisis.
“The Covid Resilience Ranking scores economies of more than $200 billion on 10 key metrics: from growth in virus cases to the overall mortality rate, testing capabilities and the vaccine supply agreements places have forged. The capacity of the local health-care system, the impact of virus-related restrictions like lockdowns on the economy, and citizens’ freedom of movement is also taken into account,” Bloomberg said.
The Philippines’ rating of 48.9 places it below 45 countries and above only seven: Iran, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Peru, Argentina, and Mexico.
“New Zealand tops the Ranking as of Nov. 23 thanks to decisive, swift action. The small island nation locked down on March 26 before a single Covid-related death had occurred, shutting its borders despite the economy’s heavy reliance on tourism,” the study said.
The Philippines got the lowest ranking among the Southeast Asian nations on the list, behind Vietnam (10), Singapore (11), Thailand (15), Indonesia (19), and Malaysia (29).
Near Asian neighbors garnered much higher scores: Japan (2), Taiwan (3), South Korea (4), China (8), and Hong Kong (12).
Philippines 46th out of 53 countries in Bloomberg’s COVID resilience ranking
The Philippines performed poorly when it came to community mobility—the “movement of people to offices and retail spaces compared to a pre-pandemic baseline in the past month”—with a -39.4% score. Only two countries had a lower score.
“By ranking their access to a coronavirus vaccine, we also provide a window into how these economies’ fortunes may shift in the future,” Bloomberg said.
“With a vaccine seen as the silver bullet that could end the pandemic, securing supply is an important component of an economy’s COVID-19 response,” it added.
As of November 25, the Philippines has 422,915 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the second-highest tally in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia.
Davao City had the highest number of new cases at 137, followed by Quezon City with 68, Batangas with 59, Laguna with 54, and Cavite with 47.