A United Nations (UN) report on Thursday said the Philippines’ situation on the coronavirus pandemic is “concerning” due to the country’s “weak” healthcare system and pre-existing humanitarian caseloads.
In its policy brief on the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Southeast Asia, the UN report said that the Philippines was among the countries in the sub-region that might be considered vulnerable.
“Among the 11 countries covered in this brief, the situation is particularly concerning for Myanmar and the Philippines, which have pre-existing humanitarian caseloads,” the U.N. report read.
“To date the hardest hit South-East Asian countries in terms of reported fatalities have been Indonesia and the Philippines,” the U.N. Also said.
The Philippines received a low rating in two areas in the “preparedness dashboard” for COVID-19 because the country only has two nurses and midwives and 10 hospital beds per 10,000 people./Stacy Ang
