The Philippines government launched its lockdown of Metro Manila, the country's most populous and developed region, on March 15, 2020. Over 12 million people were placed in a community quarantine with stringent restrictions on land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel. The Philippines government has implemented numerous lockdowns since March 2020 in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading further. However, the Philippines' experience demonstrated that imposing rigorous lockdowns for a year isn't always the greatest choice for a country.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 2,248,071 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines from January 3, 2020 to September 14, 2021, with 35,307 deaths. The death rate has been rated as one of the highest in Southeast Asia. Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines' president, has threatened to jail everyone who has not been vaccinated and has enacted severe restrictions prohibiting unvaccinated people from leaving their homes. Because only 10% of the population is vaccinated, over 64% of households have a person who has lost their employment. It is now much more difficult for people to get a job, as most enterprises are employing fewer and fewer people due to a limit of capacity in a region and a decline in consumption. Unfortunately, the only option for unvaccinated individuals is to wait indefinitely for their turn to get vaccinated.

Hopefully, additional vaccines will be available in the Philippines soon, allowing more people to get vaccinated and return to their professions in the community. More countries may be able to assist the Philippines in recovering from the pandemic, resuming regular lives, and growing the economy.

윤해원 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

<저작권자 © 강남포스트, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지>