Nikkei ranking shows gov't policies vs. COVID-19 working –Palace

Malacañang said Tuesday that the Philippines' improved ranking from 103rd in October to 57th place in the latest COVID-19 recovery ranking by Tokyo-based news magazine Nikkei Asia shows that the administration's COVID-19 response was working.

"This is a clear indication that we have successfully contained the highly transmissible Delta variant," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.

"Our numbers look good, so this means our intervention and policies are working," Nograles added.

The same Nikkei report, however, also said that although the country's infection numbers had dropped from the September peak, its short-term case fatality rate stood at over 9% which is the second-highest in the world.

OCTA Research fellow and microbiologist Fr. Nicanor Austriaco earlier said that the Philippines may already be enjoying a substantial level of immunity to COVID-19 as the country has been recording its lowest number of cases in 20 months while Filipinos have been allowed the highest mobility.

In his report to President Rodrigo Duterte, Austriaco also said the hospitalization levels in the country had also been improving even with the Delta variant being the most dominant in the country.

Nograles, however, said that the government is still undecided on whether to further ease restrictions pending further findings on how serious the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus was.

"We are still finalizing Alert Level 1 parameters, and IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) will be meeting on Thursday. Let us just wait since possibly there will be developments by that time," Nograles added.

The entire country is already under Alert Level 2 until December 15.

Under Alert Level 2 — the second-lowest in the new alert level system — certain establishments and activities are allowed at 50% capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults (and minors, even if unvaccinated) and 70% capacity outdoors.

At least 38 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, less than 50% of the target population (48.48%). — DVM, GMA News