DOH reiterates importance of context amid latest Bloomberg report

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday reiterated the importance of looking into "context" when analyzing how a country is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a television interview, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire  stressed that every country has a specific situation, health system, and resources.

Vergeire was reacting to Bloomberg's COVID Resilience Ranking for November which again placed the Philippines at the bottom of the list of 53 countries

“Comparing all these countries across with these different capacities, these different situations, this different initial situation at the start of the start of the pandemic would just not be acceptable,” Vergeire told ANC.

“I think the analysis would just be biased because of that. We have to look at the specific country’s context also when we do these kinds of surveys,” she added.

This echoed the statement of acting presidential spokesperson Karlos Nograles regarding the report. According to Nograles, the 53 countries included in the report have different COVID-19 experiences and strategies.

Vergeire, nevertheless, also welcomed Bloomberg's report, saying it would help the country improve its COVID-19 response.

“These kinds of surveys, these kinds of study will always help us to improve our response better, to improve on what we do, and to get some points for us to do better,” she said.  —KBK, GMA News