By Katrina Gracia Consebido
OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said on Wednesday, June 8, that the COVID-19 response of the Duterte administration was a success.
According to David, there were many challenges from the start of the pandemic but the country “managed it well” through the vaccination drive of the government. He said the country is one of the successful countries in Southeast Asia in dealing with the COVID-19 situation.
“Nalunasan natin with the help of vaccination and helping together, working together… These are trials and tribulations for our country and our countrymen pero nalusutan natin ito and I would say na success talaga iyong program ng gobyerno sa COVID-19 in the end,” he said.
David is hopeful that the new administration will continue what the Duterte administration has started, especially on vaccination.
“Iyong unang-una siguro, ay iyong One Health Command System, maganda iyang ipagpatuloy. Iyong medyo centralized iyong response lalo na during the peak of the pandemic,” he said.
“Maganda pa rin siyempre iyong responses natin, not just nationally pero at the local level – iyong mga pag-quarantine natin; iyong sa hospital scaling up na ginawa ng Department of Health; iyong testing natin, baka puwede nating ma-improve iyong contact tracing; iyong vaccination natin,” he added. – ag