Crowd and Crisis Management

ACTIVITY 7
Case Study

Name: MARBELLA MELANIE F. Yr. & Sec. BSHM 2-1 Date: 16/06/21

Direction: Research and read all about Covid19 Pandemic in the Philippines. Accomplish your
Case Study activity by referring/following the guide /format below.

I. Introduction
The Philippines reported its first suspected case of COVID-19 in January 2020. It involved a 5-
year-old boy in Cebu, who arrived in the country on January 12 with his mother. At that time, the
Philippines had no capability to conduct COVID-19 tests. The boy tested positive for "non-
specific pan coronavirus assay" in the RITM. Samples from the boy were also sent to the
Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia to determine the
specific coronavirus strain. The boy tested negative for COVID-19 but several suspected cases
were already reported in various parts of the country. The RITM developed capability to conduct
confirmatory tests for COVID-19 in response to the emergence of suspected COVID-19 cases.
It started conducting confirmatory tests on January 30. The first case of COVID-19 in the
Philippines was confirmed on the same day. The diagnosed patient was a 38-year-old Chinese
woman from Wuhan, who had arrived in Manila from Hong Kong on January 21. She was
admitted to the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on January 25 after she sought a consultation
due to a mild cough. At the time of the confirmation announcement, the Chinese woman was
already asymptomatic. The second case was confirmed on February 2, a 44-year-old Chinese
male who was the companion of the first case. His death on February 1 was the first recorded
outside China. He suffered from coinfection with influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae. On
February 5, the DOH confirmed a third case in a 60-year-old Chinese woman who flew into
Cebu City from Hong Kong on January 20 before she traveled to Bohol where she consulted a
doctor at a private hospital on January 22, due to fever and rhinitis. Samples taken from the
patient on January 24 returned a negative result, but the DOH was notified on February 3 that
samples taken from the patient on January 23 tested positive for the virus. The patient upon
recovery on January 31 was allowed to go home to China

II. Overview of the Situation

By April, COVID-19 had spread to all 17 regions of the Philippines, with the confirmation of a
case in April 6 of a patient confined at a hospital in Surigao City who had been in the Caraga
region since March 12 after traveling from Manila. President Duterte on April 7 accepted the
recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID)
to extend the ECQ in Luzon until April 30. On April 17, it was reported that the country had been
able to bring down the viral disease' reproduction number to 0.65 from 1.5, which meant that the
average number of people a person could infect decreased from more than one to less than
one. Recent data at the time suggested that the country was doing better in "flattening the
curve", but was warned of a "resurgence" and must ramp up mass testing in order to isolate
cases and avoid further transmission of COVID-19. Sometime in late April, local government
units (LGUs) were no longer authorized to impose quarantine measures without the consent of
the IATF-EID. Prior to that period, LGUs could impose such measures in coordination with the
Department of the Interior and Local Government. The ECQ in Luzon was extended until May
15 in some areas. This included Metro Manila, CALABARZON, Central Luzon (except Aurora),
 Crowd and Crisis Management
Pangasinan, and Benguet. ECQ measures were also extended in the provinces of Iloilo and
Cebu as well as in Davao City. Other areas were downgraded or placed under general
community quarantine (GCQ). Track of Typhoon Dongfeng (Ambo) On May 14, Typhoon
Dongfeng (local name: Ambo) landed on Samar Island. In the Philippines, tens of thousands of
people who were locked out due to lockdowns were faced with the dual threat of typhoons and
viruses, forcing complex and dangerous evacuation At each shelter in the central part of the
Philippines, in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, only half of the capacity was
accepted, and a mask was required when evacuating. Typhoon Dongfeng killed five people in
the Philippines. By the time Dongfeng landed, the number of confirmed infections was 11,618
and the number of deaths (due to infectious diseases) was 772 in the Philippines. Dongfeng
also approached Manila, but due to severe restrictions on going out of Manila, most people,
including low-income people living in simple houses, could not go to shelters and were forced to
wait at home. After May 15, the Philippine government revised its quarantine classifications in
correspondence to an earlier announcement that "Science and Economics will be considered
for any changes of the lockdown measures." A modified enhanced community quarantine
(MECQ) was applied to Metro Manila, Laguna and Cebu City, while a GCQ was raised to 41
provinces and 10 cities with moderate risk. Meanwhile, 40 provinces and 11 cities that were
considered "low-risk areas" were supposed to be released from community quarantine
measures, but were eventually upgraded to a "modified general community quarantine"
(MGCQ) after a reportedly "honest mistake" from the national government and requests from
respective LGUs. Once again, the Philippine government revised its announcements and
declared the entire country under GCQ, while Metro Manila, Laguna and Cebu City continued to
implement an MECQ. This was temporary until guidelines of MGCQ for low-risk areas were
finalized. The IATF-EID also reportedly considered the reclassification of provinces and cities in
Central Luzon as "high-risk areas" under MECQ. After receiving petitions from LGUs, the IATF-
EID revised its quarantine policies yet again. Cebu City and Mandaue were placed under ECQ,
while Metro Manila, Laguna, and Central Luzon (except for Aurora and Tarlac) were all under
MECQ. The remaining parts of the country were placed under GCQ.June to July 2020
Quarantine measures raised throughout the country started to loosen up on June 1, with areas
formerly under ECQ transitioning to a less strict quarantine. This led to a significant rise in the
number of confirmed cases, as more areas implemented a GCQ. The official start of classes in
the elementary and secondary schools which customarily begin on June was postponed. The
Bayanihan to Heal as One Act expired within this month. According to the national government,
the law expired on June 25, due to its sunset provision although there were interpretations that
the law expired as early as June 5. Senator Sonny Angara argued that per the Constitution
"emergency powers cease upon the next adjournment of Congress" and that he considers the
Bayanihan Act as an emergency measure. The national government maintains that the law was
to expire on June 25. Upon expiration of the law, the national government is not anymore
obliged to hand out cash subsidies to families affected by community quarantine measures. The
DOH reported an overwhelmingly high number of recoveries on July 30, as the department
began its "Oplan Recovery" to clear out its discrepancies with LGU counts. Under the data
reconciliation of the DOH, starting from July 15, mild cases and asymptomatic cases will be
recorded as recovered after 14 days from swab collection for testing. The first set of "mass
recovery" was recorded on July 30 with 37,180 recoveries. From July 30, recovery
reconciliations will be reported every 15 days.

III. Issues to be solved

August 2020 On August 2, the Philippines surpassed the 100,000 cases mark as the country
continues to report around 2,000–3,000 cases a day. The country eventually had the most
COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia when it finally breached Indonesia's total number of
confirmed COVID-19 cases. A modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) was placed in
 Crowd and Crisis Management
Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal from August 4 to 18 as a response to the
petition of medical front liners requesting an ECQ in Metro Manila. In early August, the
Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) became involved in a corruption scandal,
and its executives were alleged to have used the pandemic as a cover-up to steal billions of
pesos. The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) had detected a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2
virus originating in the Philippines. The new variant is said to be globally dominant variant than
other variants of the virus at the time of detection and has been associated with the sudden
increase of new cases in July.
By August 18, the DOH has identified 1,302 COVID-19 clusters throughout the country with the
majority being located in Metro Manila. September to November 2020. On September 11,
President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act into
law. President Duterte then extended the period of the state of calamity until September 2021,
through his Proclamation No. 1021 filed on September 18. The IATF-EID also announced on
September 18 that all cemeteries, columbariums, and memorial parks nationwide will be closed
from October 29 to November 4 to prevent social gatherings traditionally conducted as part of
the All Saints' Day observance. This is similar to the proposal made by Metro Manila mayors
few days prior. COVID-19 has spread to all provinces in the Philippines by September 28, when
Batanes recorded its first case

IV. Recommendation/Solution
The Philippines, with at least 45 other countries, has joined the World Health Organization
(WHO)'s Solidarity trial to study the effectivity of certain drugs in treating COVID-19 patients. Dr.
Marissa Alexandria of the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Disease is the
Philippines' representative in the study with Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire as
the official liaison of the DOH in the multinational study. The Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) announced that it is seeking bilateral collaboration with other countries
such as China, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom on endeavors related to
the vaccine development for COVID-19. President Rodrigo Duterte declared a bounty for
anyone who could produce a vaccine against COVID-19, an amount later increased to ₱50
million (around $1 million).Research on other treatments. The Philippine Council on Health
Research and Development at the DOST plans to distribute an undisclosed "functional food,"
while Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque also revealed that the DOST, Philippine General
Hospital, and the Ateneo de Manila University, are collaborating with the Duke–NUS Medical
School in Singapore to evaluate the feasibility of lauric acid from virgin coconut oil, Vitex
negundo (known locally as Lagundi), and Euphorbia hirta (known locally as Tawa-tawa) as a
"dietary regimen supplement" to help COVID-19 patients combat the disease. A "functional
food" or "dietary regimen supplement" is described as similar to how tawa-tawa is also used as
a remedy against dengue by incorporating it to the diet of diagnosed patients. Vaccination Main
article: COVID-19 vaccination in the Philippines Supply. The Philippine government has been
negotiating with various foreign vaccine manufacturers to secure the country's COVID-19
vaccine supply. These manufacturers include Sinovac Biotech (China), Gamaleya Research
Institute (Russia), Moderna (United States), and Pfizer (United States). The private sector, with
government sanction, has secured at least 2.6 million vaccine doses from British-Swedish
manufacturer AstraZeneca. Negotiations are also ongoing with American firm Novavax which
would supply at least 30 million doses from the Serum Institute of India. The country is projected
to at least 60 million doses from various manufacturers in 2021. The procurement efforts of the
national government has been a subject of various controversies. Health Secretary Francisco
Duque has been alleged to "dropped the ball" in a deal with Pfizer vaccine deal which could
have secured 10 million doses by as early as January 2021. Plans to secure 25 million doses
from China's Sinovac has also been put into scrutiny in the Congress due to its reported efficacy
rate. Late stage trials of Sinovac's vaccine in Brazil reported an efficacy rate of only 50 percent.
 Crowd and Crisis Management
There were concerns within the Senate that the reported 50-percent efficacy rate of Sinovac's
vaccine would not garner public trust and would be a waste of government funds. The
Department of Health said that Sinovac's vaccine satisfy the World Health Organization
standards of at least 50 percent efficacy rate while the FDA pointed out that Sinovac is yet to
publish an official and published scientific report on their vaccines efficacy rate and that the
clinical trial for the vaccine is conducted in different countries and the efficacy rate per country
will vary; as low as 50 percent in Brazil and as high as above 90 percent in Turkey
.Authorization and usage On December 2, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte signed an executive
order allowing the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency-use authorization (EUA) to
COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Under certain conditions, vaccines and drugs could be
approved within a month instead of undergoing the usual six-month review process. Among the
conditions is for a vaccine manufacturer to obtain prior EUA in its country of origin or other
countries with a "mature" regulator. The FDA announced that three vaccine manufactures
namely Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac have inquired on the process of obtaining an EUA in
the Philippines. On December 23, Pfizer has applied for an EUA for its vaccine. Duterte also
said in December 2020 that some members of the military already received COVID-19 vaccine
from Chinese manufacturer, Sinopharm despite the vaccine not yet officially approved by the
country's health authorities. Few days later, it was reported that some members of the
Presidential Security Group had also received vaccine from unknown manufacturer. Testing
Further information: COVID-19 testing .A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman
for COVID-19 testing at the Palacio de Maynila. Early COVID-19 testing in the Philippines was
only limited to persons with travel history to countries with cases of local transmission and those
with exposure to the individuals confirmed to have COVID-19. The testing protocols were
revised sometime in mid-March 2020 to give priority to the testing of any individual with severe
symptoms as well as to the elderly, pregnant and immunocompromised persons with at least
mild symptoms. On March 30, symptomatic healthcare workers are also considered priority for
testing.

During his press briefing on May 19, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the
people aimed to be tested in the government's "expanded targeted testing" are as follows: "(1)
all symptomatic cases, (2) all of those coming from abroad, (3) all close contacts of confirmed
cases that were found through contact tracing, and (4) all of those who tested positive on rapid
antibody tests." The government is also opting to test through benchmarks, by testing 1–2% of
the Philippines' entire population and 10–12% of the worst affected region in the country, which
is Metro Manila.

In late March 2020, some politicians and their relatives were reportedly tested for the disease
despite not showing any symptoms, causing public backlash amidst a shortage of testing kits
since it was against DOH guidelines to test asymptomatic individuals.The DOH responded to
the public criticism by clarifying that, while there is "no policy for VIP treatment" with regard to
testing for COVID-19 and that "all specimens are being processed on a first-in, first-out basis," it
"extends courtesy" to front line government officials, specifically those involved in national
security and public health. Some senators who were tested claim that they used rapid antibody
tests not accredited by the DOH at that time. On January 24, 2021, after receiving a go-signal
from the national government, the Philippine Red Cross announced that they will start
conducting COVID-19 tests using saliva samples on January 25. Testing capacity COVID-19
testing in Rodriguez, Rizal. In July 2020, there were currently 85 testing laboratories nationwide
with 25,000 tests conducted daily. The country has conducted over 3 million tests as of
September 2020.
 Crowd and Crisis Management
On March 9, 2020, a total of 2,000 tests has been conducted at a rate of 200 to 250 people
accommodated by tests per day. The testing capacity of the Philippine government has been
expanded by late March 2020. As of March 23, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
(RITM) in Muntinlupa alone can test 600 people per day, other laboratories except for the facility
of San Lazaro Hospital, Manila, can do 100 tests, while the said hospital can do 50 tests per
day. By March 27, the release of test results conducted at the RITM takes five to seven days
due to backlog, but the institute is committed to reducing the turnaround to two to three days.
The DOH announced that the country will conduct targeted mass testing on April 14, which will
be administered strictly for susceptible, probable, and high-risk patients, such as health workers,
expectant mothers, and patients with other medical conditions.[155][156] The country's testing
continuously increased, except when RITM temporarily scaled down its operations from April
20–24 after 43 of its staffs tested positive for the virus. The Philippines has the capability to
conduct mass testing, either through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
or rapid antibody testing, given the increased number and improving capacity of the country's
accredited laboratories and the procurement of more testing kits. The first localized targeted
mass testing began in Valenzuela, Metro Manila on April 11. Other local government units
followed suit shortly after the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-
EID) adopted a resolution that commences 'a national government-enabled, local government
unit-led, and people-centered response' to COVID-19.

Testing kits
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the usage of 75 PCR test kits (including one
locally developed kit), 79 rapid antibody testing kits,53 immunoassay testing kits, and 7 other
testing kits as of July 30. A locally developed PCR testing kit has been made by the National
Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila. It is reportedly six times cheaper
than its foreign counterparts. It was first approved for commercial use in April 2020 by the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) but some kits were recalled in May by its manufacturer, after it
was found out that testing using the kits yields indeterminate results 30 percent at the time. A
month later, the testing kit were re-approved after its defects were fixed.

Testing facilities
Before January 30, there were no medical facilities in the country that can confirm cases of the
virus. Before that date, the RITM conducted preliminary tests on suspected cases to determine
if they are infected with a coronavirus but could not detect the new strain on patients. Samples
from suspected cases with confirmed coronavirus infection had to be sent abroad to the
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, for confirmatory
testing specifically for SARS-CoV-2. The National Task Force for COVID-19 created the Task
Force T3 (Test, Trace, and Treat) to establish public-private partnerships that would conduct
mass testings. The task force cited the San Miguel Corporation as a pioneer in the move to
open its COVID-19 testing laboratory to initially test all of its 70,000 employees. As of August
24, the country has 110 subnational laboratories capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2

V. Conclusion
Following directives from the Philippine government, several fast food and restaurant chains
suspended dine-in services and restricted operations to take-out and delivery. Online food
ordering services such as GrabFood and Foodpanda temporarily halted during the enhanced
community quarantine but eventually resumed operations in Luzon during the quarantine period.
Several restaurants and coffee shops across the country offered free food and beverages to
front line professionals involved in the pandemic, especially health care workers.

Production and distribution

 Crowd and Crisis Management
Food production and distribution slowed down during the pandemic, especially in Luzon,
primarily due to the lack of financial assistance and inaccessibility of transportation resulting
from community quarantine measures being implemented across numerous local governments.
The delivery of fresh vegetables from the province of Benguet, which supplies the country with
over 80 percent of the country's highland vegetable requirements, was halted due to the
implementation of an "extreme enhanced" community quarantine in La Trinidad. Local
government officials advised local rice farmers to sell their harvests to them, assuring them that
they would help distribute it to their respective communities amid the border restrictions. On
March 27, Vietnam announced that it would reduce its production and exportation of rice due to
food security amid the pandemic. The Philippines, the largest importer of rice in the world,
imports 25% of its rice from Vietnam. Agriculture Secretary William Dar assured that there
would be "no shortage of the staple during the duration of the enhanced community quarantine
and beyond" as "harvest is already coming in." Dar also stated the Department of Agriculture's
plans to initiate early planting in the Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, two of the largest rice
producers in the country, ahead of the third quarter of 2020. Production of canned fish in the
country was adversely affected with Zamboanga City, which accounts for 85% of the country's
canned fish industry, announcing it would reduce the production of canned fish in the
Philippines by 50–60% due to difficulties encountered following the implementation of a city-
wide lockdown.

Medical supply
Further information: Shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic Cloth face masks draw the
attention of customers at the Muñoz Market in Quezon City due to the limited supply and higher
price of surgical masks. A shortage of medical masks was reported in various parts of the
country due to concerns over the pandemic. RITM director Celia Carlos urged the public
against hoarding masks to ensure ample supply for medical workers directly dealing with
patients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 infection. The Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), in cooperation with the Philippine National Police, are acting against reports of
traders hoarding face masks and selling said item at an overpriced rate. The DTI has also
directed its Philippine International Trading Corp. to import 5 million masks from overseas.
Medtecs International Corp. Ltd., the sole manufacturer of medical mask in the country, has
committed to supply the government through the DTI. However, due of the Philippine
procurement law, local manufacturers are having difficulty competing with foreign suppliers that
have a lower cost but may have substandard quality. Doctors in the Philippines have deplored
the shortages in personal protective equipment amid the pandemic, and was even cited as the
cause of high infection rate and death rate of healthcare workers in the countryTo address this
issue, the Philippine government continues to procure and stockpile such equipment, as the
pandemic is expected to last until 2021. According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario
Vergeire, the country also issued requests for ventilators and respirators that will be used for
severe or critical COVID-19 patients, as there are reported shortages of these equipment.

VI. Learning Experience about the topic

I’ve learned a lot in this topic because I experience it and my whole family . but the whole world . like
Travel of foreign nationals to the Philippines is banned with few exceptions since March 2020. The
issuance of visas to all foreign national on March 19 was stopped and all visas already issued are
voided except to those issued to families of Filipino nationals would remain valid. Three days later a
travel ban was imposed on all foreign nationals, except spouses of Filipino citizens (and their
children), and workers for international organizations and non-governmental organizations
accredited in the country. The government has varying levels of lockdown and/or stay-at-home
orders across all the country's local government units characterized as "community quarantines".
The strictest of these measures is designated as enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
 Crowd and Crisis Management
Restrictions were imposed on various aspects of society such as mass public transportation, mass
gathering, and operation of businesses. In April 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte warned anyone
who violates the country's lockdown measures could be shot for causing trouble. The national
government declared a state of calamity over all of the Philippines on March 16, 2020, by virtue of
Proclamation No. 929 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte. The declaration brings into effect for six
months the following:
price control of basic needs and commodities, granting interest-free loans, distribution of calamity
funds, authorization of importation and receipt of donations, and hazard allowance for public health
workers and government personnel in the fields of science and technology.
VII. References (APA format)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_Philippines

"COVID-19 Tracker". Department of Health. Department of Health. Retrieved June 15, 2021.

^ Jump up to:a b c d e f "Beat COVID-19 Situationer #413.pdf". Department of Health (Philippines). June 14, 2021.
Retrieved June 15, 2021.

^https://www.facebook.com/pia.gov.ph/photos/pb.487921351235396.-2207520000../4744896355537853/

^ Jump up to:a b "Philippines confirms first case of new coronavirus".  ABS-CBN News. January 30, 2020.
Retrieved January 30, 2020.

^ Jump up to:a b c "DOH recommends declaration of public health emergency after COVID-19 local
transmission". GMA News. March 7, 2020. Retrieved  March 7,  2020.

^ Ramzy, Austin; May, Tiffany (February 2, 2020). "Philippines Reports First Coronavirus Death Outside
China". The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

^ "Coronavirus: What we know about first death outside China".  Rappler. Agence France-Presse. February 2,
2020. Retrieved  March 29,  2020.

^ "Coronavirus: What we know about first death outside China".  ABS-CBN News. Agence France-Presse.
February 2, 2020. Retrieved  March 29,  2020.

^ "San Juan prayer hall frequented by coronavirus patient temporarily closed". CNN Philippines. March 6,
2020. Retrieved  March 30,  2020.

^ "Greenhills Mall implements 'precautionary measures' vs coronavirus". ABS-CBN News. March 6, 2020.

Retrieved March 30, 2020.