Bloomberg Ranks Philippines 32nd Out of 53 Countries in Responding to COVID

Bloomberg ranked the Philippines 32nd out of 53 countries in its Resilience Index that measures how good or bad they are doing in the fight against COVID-19.

The Philippines got a resilience score of 51.9 in February, one spot lower than Romania and a spot higher than Spain.

The score is calculated monthly on 11 core metrics such as growth in virus cases, overall mortality rate, testing capability, vaccines, local healthcare capacity, the impact of lockdowns on economy, and freedom of movement.

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New Zealand was in first place with 77.2. Its closed borders and four vaccine deals, along with its near-elimination of the virus locally, maintained its place at the top for the fourth month straight. Australia and Singapore followed in second and third respectively. Finland and Norway close the top five.

China, where the virus was first reported in December 2019, is currently in sixth place, followed by Taiwan in seventh. South Korea, which recently began its vaccination program, is in eighth place. Japan and Thailand round off the top 10.

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The U.S. is ranked 27 with a score of 53.3, while the U.K. is ranked 30 with a score of 52.2. 

Developing economies in Latin America and Africa take space in the ranking's bottom third.

According to Bloomberg, the richer countries' hold on vaccine supply will likely prevent poorer nations from rising up the ranks in the months to follow. Mexico is in 53rd place, the last of the ranked economies.

Despite leading in inoculations, Israel only inched up one spot form January and got 14th place in February. Its vaccination program shows the effects of experimental mRNA vaccines to prevent deaths and slow transmissions. However, mutations and new variants still pose a risk.