Countries worldwide are vulnerable to the threats brought about by the emerging variants of the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday, July 9.

“Lahat ng bansa ngayon vulnerable sa variants. Walang single country na magiging immune sa vulnerability nitong mga variants na ito (All countries are vulnerable to variants. No single country will be immune to the vulnerability from these variants),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during an online forum.

She was reacting to Reuters report that the economy of the Philippines and four other countries “are among the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 Delta variant within emerging markets,” citing a study from international financial institution JPMorgan.

Vergeire said that other countries with robust economies were not spared from these coronavirus variants, particularly the Delta variant.

“We have Europe having surges right now. In the United States, where there are surges and spikes because of the Delta variant. We have our neighboring ASEAN countries kung saan (wherein) 97 percent ng mga kaso ngayon sa (of cases in) Indonesia is the Delta variant. In Malaysia, 30 percent,” she said.

“Lahat tayo vulnerable sa Delta variant that is why we're trying to intensify all of our controls para ma-contain at ma-prevent natin ang pagpasok ng variant na ito sa ating mga komunidad (We are all vulnerable to the Delta variant which is why we're trying to intensify all of our control measures, so that we can contain and prevent the entry of this variant into our communities),” she emphasized.

Philippines: Least safest country?

The Health official also reacted to Global Finance’s list of "world's safest countries" in 2021, where the Philippines ranked lowest.

The international business magazine scored 134 countries it evaluated based on three factors: war and peace, personal security, and natural disaster risk including "the unique risk factors stemming from COVID-19." The Philippines landed on the 134th spot.

“Bukas naman lagi ang gobyerno...at yung mga punto na nakikita naming accurate naman at saka rational, we used it for us to improve kung ano man ang ginagawa natin dito (The government is always open (to this kind of study)... and the points that deemed accurate and also rational, we used it for us to improve whatever we do here),” she said.

Vergeire said that the public should avoid comparing the Philippines with other countries and “let us take this with a grain of salt.”

“Ang importante sa atin ngayon, bagama’t bukas tayo sa mga surveys na ito (What is important to us today, although we are open to these surveys), let us focus on our country. Let’s focus on what we can do to help our country. Let’s focus on the response that we are doing here right now,” she said.