An infectious disease and clinical pharmacology expert said that the Philippines has the highest fatality yet lowest recovery rate for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Southeast Asia.
In a report by ANC, Dr. Benjamin Co said that the country contributes to 0.26 percent of the global COVID-19 cases, and 0.26 percent of the COVID-19 deaths in the world.
He added that in terms of case fatality rate, the Philippines stands at 6.64 percent—only slightly lower than the global rate of 6.65 percent—while Southeast Asia’s rate is only at 2.34 percent. Meanwhile, the recovery rate of the country is at 20.82 percent versus the global average of 38.1 percent, and the region’s at 37 percent.
“We have the highest case fatality rate now in in the ASEAN region. In terms of recovery rate, while we have improved a bit, we are still below the world average. We also have the poorest recovery rate in the ASEAN region,” said Dr. Co.
The expert also said that the country is not testing enough, including recoveries—suggesting that given the limited and expensive test kits, asymptomatic patients no longer need to be tested negative for the second time, contrary to the standards set by World Health Organization (WHO).
“Retesting over and over until these asymptomatic patients test negative becomes futile, and a waste of limited resources just to fulfill a definition criteria,” he added.
