Data on Covid-19 cases from various countries indicate that the Philippines has contained the virus better than many other developed nations.
Below are the top 20 countries that have coronavirus cases and deaths. Some of the countries mentioned are also easing restrictions despite the risks.
The time to ease restrictions on labor and other industries is now, and this is supported by the data.
Our economy will suffer further if we do not restore work in areas that manifest low COVID-19 incidence.
But, on the whole, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the resumption of activities for the government’s priority “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) infrastructure program will help jumpstart the economy once the death rate and coronavirus disease infection are brought under control.
Closer to the ground, Dominguez proposes, the government should consider employing as COVID-19 contact tracers those who temporarily lost their jobs due to the lockdown.
“We should hire contact tracers en masse to boost our efforts to stop transmission and defeat COVID-19 while providing jobs,” Dominguez told the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
He remarked that an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million workers are temporarily out of work, who can be tapped to do contact tracing faster. “We need to hire more contact tracers to match the numbers we expect that will come with more testing,” Dominguez underscored.
He stressed, further, that it will be well-advised to “restart and accelerate the Build, Build, Build program”, in accordance with sound health standards.
He told IATF: “Infrastructure remains the best driver of economic growth because it has the best multiplier effects in terms of employment.”
