The Philippines, which has logged 2.8 million infections and 50,981 deaths as of Thursday, is no longer a cellar-dweller in the latest Bloomberg COVID-19 resilience ranking.
For December, the country now ranked 50th from the bottom 53rd a month ago as eased restrictions, improved vaccination and lower positivity rates suggest “undetected infection is finally coming under control,” according to Bloomberg.
The monthly report captures how effectively the “world’s biggest 53 economies” are responding to the COVID-19 crisis, which began in March 2020.
Vietnam replaced the Philippines as “the worst place” to live in during the pandemic, falling by two ranks after its “export-dependent economy was slammed by outbreaks causing factory shutdowns during the peak holiday production season.”
South Africa, tagged as the epicenter of the Omicron variant, dropped by seven notches to become the second worst in the list.
Also landing at the bottom five were Indonesia at 51st , and Poland remaining at 49th.
According to Bloomberg, it uses a number of indicators in its assessment, including virus containment, quality of healthcare, vaccination coverage, overall mortality, and progress toward restarting travel.
But Malacañang had criticized the ranking as having “little consideration for country-specific COVID-19 context,” noting the 53 nations being evaluated had different experiences and strategies.