In the Philippines, a lot of things have changed due to the enhanced community quarantine that was implemented on March 16, 2020. This was to contain the virus and to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on everyone. Every country is proactive in preventing COVID-19 from spreading. Let us take a look at the measures implemented by some countries and the things that we can learn from them.
USA
As of now, the USA has the most number of COVID-19 cases which is shocking since they are one of the most powerful countries in the world. All states have confirmed cases as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The increase in the number of cases is likely due to the lack of testing in the country. Because of this, cases were not identified which made the transmission of the virus easier. Just like any other country, they are doing their best in spreading awareness about the disease.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-went-wrong-with-coronavirus-testing-in-the-us
Italy
Italy is severely affected by the pandemic. At first, they thought things were going well as they were the first country to ban flights from China. However, they were surprised that after almost two months, the virus spread like wildfire. They were not able to detect some of the cases and might have mistook some of it as seasonal flu. Flavia Riccardo, a researcher in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Italian National Institute of Health, in an interview with TIME stated “This started unnoticed which means by the time we realized it, there were a lot of transmission chains happening.”
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/coronavirus-italy
China
China did a good job in containing the disease considering that this is the ground zero of COVID-19. They implemented a complete lockdown in Wuhan to prevent the disease from spreading anymore further. The travel bans were said to be successful in slowing down the spread. They were also able to detect those with early stages of the disease.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00741-x
South Korea
South Korea is one of the countries that has a high number of COVID-19 cases but things seem to be improving day by day. Despite this, no lockdown was implemented. The availability of test kits and mass testing was the key to containing the virus for South Korea. Even without symptoms, a person is encouraged to be tested as long as they are potentially exposed to an infected person. In addition, the country set up drive-thru testing centers wherein it will only take 10 minutes for the testing approach and the people do not need to get down their vehicles.
Japan
Unlike other countries, they did not implement a lockdown. According to Japan Times, Health Ministry Official Yasuyuki Sahara stated “We don’t see a need to use all of our testing capacity, just because we have it.” They test only those who have symptoms or those who had contact with an infected person. They were also able to identify areas with infections which made it easier for them to do contact tracing and to focus on the people residing in that area.
Vietnam
This country is similar to us when it comes to its economic state. Nevertheless, they became really aggressive in preventing the virus from spreading. As of now, they do not have any deaths and they only have almost 200 confirmed cases out of thousands of people tested. Their government had everything planned out even before they had a confirmed case.
In an article published by Radio France Internationale on February 13, 2020, Vietnam only had 10 cases but they already put an area with 10, 000 residents under quarantine. They were the first country outside of China to implement a mass quarantine. They also banned all flights to and from Mainland China. Aside from the efforts of the health department, they also implemented strict surveillance by military personnel to maintain quarantine measures.
http://www.rfi.fr/en/wires/20200213-vietnam-quarantines-area-10000-residents-over-coronavirus
| Countries | Confirmed Cases | Deaths | Recoveries |
| USA | 142, 328 | 2, 484 | 2, 686 |
| Italy | 97, 689 | 10, 779 | 13, 030 |
| China | 82, 133 | 3, 300 | 75, 582 |
| South Korea | 9, 583 | 152 | 5, 033 |
| Japan | 1, 866 | 54 | 424 |
| Philippines | 1, 418 | 71 | 42 |
| Vietnam | 194 | 0 | 25 |
By looking at the actions taken by different countries and at the statistics, we can know which measures are effective and which are not. However, every country has a different situation. One cannot totally do what the other did. Nevertheless, a universal way to combat this pandemic is by practicing social distancing and maintaining good hygiene. We can all put an end to this pandemic as long as we take proper actions that are for the common good.
Author:
Sophia Orlanes
Features editor
HiLites ASHS 