…But among most vulnerable to COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Three years into the pandemic, the Philippines remains among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 globally even amid improvements in the past months, a UK-based think tank said.

In Oxford Economics’ latest COVID vulnerability scorecard, advanced economies are now more vulnerable than emerging markets (EMs).

However, the Philippines still ranks high with a score of 5.2, an improvement from its score of six during the October round.

However, this is significantly elevated than the EM average of four and 3.9 for the whole of Asia.

“The biggest improvements were in Bangladesh, Egypt, New Zealand and the Philippines,” Oxford economists Gabriel Sterne and Yash Adwani said.

“Asia’s scores have improved the most since October, but we expect these to worsen during 2022, as governments may tolerate some deterioration in epidemiology,” they said.

The Philippines is now experiencing another wave of COVID cases due to the Omicron variant, prompting the revert to a higher alert level.

The country recorded its record-high number of daily cases at 39,000 this weekend.

“Omicron has resulted in reduced mobility in economies that have been severely affected. All the major advanced economies are experiencing a significant decrease in mobility. By contrast, EMs have suffered relatively small reductions in mobility,” the Oxford economists said.

True enough, the Philippines did not reimpose its strictest enhanced community quarantine just like it did in the past.

Aside from the Philippines, other EMs that are also vulnerable include Pakistan, India, Mexico, Bulgaria and Indonesia. Those that are less vulnerable include the United Arab Emirates, Chile, Qatar, Oman and Panama.