From pandemic to endemic mindset
The World Bank reported that the COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on rural livelihoods. Poor communities in the Philippines suffer from loss of income and job opportunities. The experience was even more difficult to disaster-prone communities as they are faced with insufficient food supply as well as health, sanitation, and nutrition issues. The pre-existing challenges of lack of income opportunities and reduction of pay were aggravated significantly due to the pandemic. On a macroscale, the country’s Gross Domestic Product decreased by 9.5% in 2020, the worst drop since records began in 1947. The government has a record high debt of P11.6 trillion as of end of July, 2021 and the amount is seen to increase as the country needs money to revive the economy.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) recently proposed a 10-point policy agenda to boost the country’s economic recovery. Looking back, NEDA describes the old way of having general lockdowns as a risk-averse approach that damaged the economy. The NEDA Chief acknowledged that in the early part of 2020, we did not really understand how the virus spreads. But now that we know more about it, we have to implement policies to accelerate and sustain growth and recovery.
NEDA proposes a shift to an “endemic” mindset which necessitates the change of the primary metrics used for decision-making and being reported to the public. Indeed, the way COVID-19 statistics is reported showing the accumulated number of cases including asymptomatic and mild cases dampens optimism and does not inspire consumer confidence. Instead of total cases and deaths, the NEDA Chief stresses that metrics should focus on the total severe or critical cases, the case fatality ratio, and the total number of vaccinated individuals. The proposal states that the number of mild cases will no longer be reported to the public.
As of November 30, 2021, Bloomberg rated the Philippines’ COVID resilience at 43.1, placing the country on the 53rd spot with the United Arab Emirates as the frontrunner in the rankings. Tokyo-based news magazine Nikkei previously placed the Philippines at the 103rd spot. With low COVID-19 statistics, the country’s ranking jumped 46 spots to the 57th place. Although the government has discredited the news magazine for its previous report, it is now changing the tune.
With available tools to fight the virus, it is time that the government and the people change mindset and approach in dealing with the pandemic. From a risk-averse approach, the government’s response should give more flexibility for a calibrated lifting of restrictions. An endemic mindset, however, should not be equated to a reckless one. We must think that the virus is within our midst, and we must learn how to live with it conscious of the potential harm it can cause to our health. To behave as if it no longer exists is to border on recklessness.