COVID-19 Outbreak

Joshua Alinea

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Coronavirus disease (COVID 19) is a transmissible disease caused by a recently discovered coronavirus that was first encountered in Wuhan, a large city in the Chinese province of Hubei.

In December 2019, reports saying a new coronavirus began to spread among the population in Wuhan started to emerge. Taiwanese authorities have sent a disclosed document to the WHO in December to warn them of a suspected human to human virus transmission occurring in China. The disclosed documents came after the US State Department said that it is "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community". It also criticized the WHO for "choosing politics over public health".

On the 30th of January 2020, the Department of Health Philippines (DOH) reported the first case of COVID-19 in the country with a 38-year-old female Chinese national. On 7 March, the first local transmission of COVID-19 was confirmed. WHO is working closely with the DOH in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.

On March 16, 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared the entire Luzon area under "enhanced community quarantine" (ECQ). It was implemented over a month after the first reported case which caused mass transmissions over Metro Manila and other provinces in the Philippines. Recently, this April 2020, the Philippines recorded almost 8,000 cases, more than 1,000 recoveries, and more than 500 deaths.

Despite the knowledge regarding the threat of the COVID-19 virus, President Duterte did not make a move, but rather taped a message that aired on the 14th of February. He urged Filipinos to travel around the country despite the looming COVID-19. He told in his taped message “Come with me and be my travel companion. I’ll be traveling around the Philippines. Let’s prioritize our own ''

The government made a huge mistake and did not listen to the plea of Filipinos to impose a travel ban against China, which led us to the current situation we’re in where many people are suffering not only from the virus but also from hunger; all of which are brought by the slow action of the government. I think that the current data of cases in the Philippines is improving, but the Government should be more strict. In the month of July, I think that there’s a possibility that cases will hit 0, the recoveries will drastically increase, and the casualties will decrease.

There are a lot of unexplained things about the COVID-19. There are 210 countries and territories around the world who are suffering from COVID-19. Along with that, there are 11 countries whose cases are very alarming because the numbers of deaths are increasing at a terrible rate. These countries include the United States, Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Iran, China, and Brazil. COVID-19 has destroyed a lot of people’s lives, career, and dreams.