Characterizing the Government’s Preventive Measure in Combating COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines:
A Content Analysis
Kreisler I. Fontamillas
1,2ABSTRACT
By and large, COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented circumstance that impacted millions of people around the globe. This is a new strain of coronavirus that targets one’s lower respiratory tract and most likely to infect those who are immunosuppressed. Thus, this qualitative paper answers the question, What characterizes the preventive measures of the government to combat COVID-19 in the Philippines? The research design employed was content analysis with news articles in three major dailies in the country as its corpora of data. From the cool and warm analyses of the field text, four measures emerged, labeled as
‘preventive nodes’ namely: communication node which refers to government’s way of disseminating the needed information and coming up with an alternative in saving the lives of many while vaccines are still on progress; accommodation node which pertains to supplementary efforts from the government in addressing health, social and economic concerns brought by COVID-19; assessment node which relates to the issues that have to be improved both of government and its people; and impact node which refers to government’s way of reporting the cases that may indicate the result of their measure. It was concluded that these nodes may promote a sense of awareness and provide knowledge to the public, alleviate financial constraints, hunger, and unemployment, come up with a better response and arrive at informed decisions in taking actions to impede this crisis.
Keywords: content analysis, COVID-19, pandemic, Philippine government, preventive measures
INTRODUCTION
Millions of people a round the globe ha ve been impa cted by the emergence of the COVID-19 pa ndemic. Origina lly a bbrevia ted a s 2019nCOV by World Hea lth Orga niza tion (WHO), this new stra in of virus identified by the Chinese Center for Disea se Control a nd Prevention (CDC), origina ted in Wuha n, Hubei Province, China in December 2019 a nd ta rgets the lower respira tory tra ct of pa tients with pneumonia.
Corona virus is a simila r trend to severe a cute respira tory syndrome (SARS) a nd Middle Ea st Respira tory Syndrome (MERS). This infectious disea se wa s rega rded a s a n interna tiona l hea lth concern and
subsequently, WHO officia lly decla red COVID-19 as a globa l pa ndemic in Ma rch 2020. Its susceptibility a ppea rs to be a ssocia ted with persona l profiles through exposure to the virus. This includes a ge, biologica l sex, a nd other hea lth conditions a nd most likely to infect older a dult with chronic comorbidities or who a re immunosuppressed (Chen et. a l., 2020; Adhika ri et. a l., 2020). In the la test guidelines from Chinese hea lth a uthorities, three ma in tra nsmission routes for this virus were described: 1) droplets tra nsmission; 2) contact tra nsmission; a nd 3) a erosol tra nsmission (Adhika ri et.
al., 2020; National Health Commission of People’s Republic of China , 2020). Further, a recent study conducted cla imed a symptomatic tra nsmission (Ba i et.
a l., 2020) but a ny such study could be limited by errors in self-reported symptoms or conta ct with other ca ses (Ha ra pa n et. a l., 2020). An infected pa tient ma y suffer from symptoms like fever, dry cough, chest pa in, fa tigue, difficulty in brea thing a nd mya lgia .
However, upon knowing these fa cts, the most importa nt question tha t needs a n urgent a nswer is what a nd how ca n this pa ndemic be cured a s there is still no specific a ntivira l trea tment for COVID-19. Many
1College of Arts and Sciences, Romblon State University, Odiongan, Romblon, Philippines
2The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines
Received 28 October 2020; Accepted 06 July 2021; Available online 23 July 2021
infected countries ma na ge to conta in the virus by giving non-pha rma ceutica l mea sures. Prevention is, by fa r, the best pra ctice in the hope to era dica te the impact of this virus considering the la ck of effective trea tment a nd this recommends isola tion a nd supportive ca re including oxygen thera py, fluid ma nagement, and a ntibiotics trea tment for seconda ry ba cteria l infections (Genna ro et.a l., 2020; Ha ra pan et. a l., 2020). With the va st a nd growing number of a ffected people in just a short period of time, it overwhelms countries tha t may end up being una ble to provide hea lth ca re, ma intain the society of their community or keeping the function of the economy (Nicomedes & Avila , 2020). In the words of Miller (2006), “this could cause the disruption of the world economy, decline of stock ma rkets, sca rcity of supplies, worsening politica l insta bility, and governments losing hundreds of billions of revenues.”
The world needs a ca reful pla nning and informed decisions. Thus, it must be ta ken collectively with quick emergency responses to ba ttle a ga inst the common enemy – the new corona virus. When mea sures a re uncontrolled, it will lea d to the ra pid increa se in the number of ca ses, rea ch the pea k ea rlier a nd require more ca pa city hea lthca re systems to respond so a ll country lea ders a re encoura ged to proa ctively take stra tegic a ctions a s soon a s possible to lower the ca ses (Qia n et. a l., 2020; Dja la nte et. a l., 2020). It is in this trying time tha t the government should come up with a well-orchestra ted pla n while the potentia l va ccines a re still in progress. In the ca se of the Philippines where the first suspected ca se wa s reported on Ja nua ry 22, 2020, a nd 633 suspected ca ses were ta llied a s of Ma rch 1 (Edra da et. a l., 2020), the government formula ted a resolution to orga nize COVID-19 Inter-Agency Ta sk Force for the Ma na gement of Emerging Infectious Disea ses tha t would respond to concerns brought by this globa l pa ndemic. Moreover, a bill wa s pa ssed known as Republic Act No. 11469 or “Bayanihan to Hea l a s One Act” which provides the President an extension of powers to promote a nd protect the collective interests of a ll Filipinos (Officia l Ga zette, 2020). The Philippines ra nks 43rd on countries ha ving the grea test number of ca ses a s it hits more tha n 10,000 ca ses a s of Ma y 2020 (Sta tista , 2020).
This pa per a ims to qua lita tively investiga te the preventive mea sures implemented by Philippine government a nd its a gencies through the use of content a na lysis with news a rticles published from Ma rch 17 until April 21, 2020 by three ma jor da ilies in the country a s its corpora of da ta. The findings of this study may be beneficial in improving the government’s a ctions a s this study exa mines their existing pra ctices in a ddressing the needs of Filipino people during this pa ndemic. Furthermore, this ma y a lso contribute in coming up with a well-coordina ted a nd comprehensive pla n a nd policy to respond a nd comba t COVID-19.
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Content a na lysis wa s employed in this pa per a s its resea rch design. Qua lita tive content a na lysis is the exa mina tion of va rious nonliving ma teria l or cultura l texts a s a mea ns of ga ining insight into a socia l world, ideologies, or domina nt worldviews (Wright, 2017).
Despite tha t, wha t ca n be ga ined from this study is just a synthetic knowledge, the purpose of content a na lysis is to revea l the emerging trends a nd pa tterns of behavior in the texts. Since this study dea ls with corpora of data, this design wa s specifica lly used to cha ra cterize the preventive mea sures of the Philippine government in a ddressing the problems of COVID-19.
Data Measures
To unfold the emerging themes, news a rticles in web content were used a s a corpus of da ta coming from the three ma jor da ily newspa pers in the country: 1) Philippine Da ily Inquirer (PDI); 2) Ma nila Bulletin (MB); a nd 3) Philippine Sta r (PS). Using their own news genera tors in their websites with a keyword, preventive measures of government in the Philippines against COVID-19, led to 308 potentia l news a rticles.
To ta per down the overwhelming number of potential a rticles, inclusion criteria wa s set such a s the Timeline (a rticles published from Ma rch 17, the da y which the lockdown sta rted until April 21), Section (Purely focused on news, other sections like fea ture, opinion, business, editoria l, lifestyle etc. were excluded), a nd the Region which only focused on Luzon). Applying the criteria resulted in 12 qua lified news a rticles tha t served a s the extended text: 5 a rticles from PDI, 2 from MB a nd 5 from PS.
Mode of Analysis
The rea ding a nd rerea ding of field text were employed to get the sense of the whole. Using a structura l a na lysis or dendogra m a s a n a na lytica l tool emerged the pa ttern of beha vior underlying in the text.
The extended text wa s subjected to cool a na lyses by extra cting the significa nt sta tements from the corpus.
After condensing the mea ning units, codes were formula ted to identify connections between mea ning units a nd a pplied wa rm a nalyses by scrutinizing text for simila rities a nd differences from which ca tegories a re derived (Rya n & Berna rd, 2003). Subsequently, ca tegories further yielded to development of themes tha t qua lita tively describe the la yer of experience.
Va lida tion of the dendogra m wa s utilized through a member checking procedure in which the correspondence ma de by the resea rcher with a nother person involved in the da ta a na lysis to a ch ieve truthfulness a nd trustworthiness of the da ta (de Guzma n, 2020). Furthermore, to a rrive a t the openness
towa rds the text, processes such a s Bridling (Da hlberg, 2008) or becoming pa tient a nd a ctively wa iting for a theme to show up a nd Bracketing (Tufford & Newma n, 2010) or removing the bia ses a nd prejudices in a na lyzing the corpus were observed.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the cool a nd wa rm a na lyses of the field text, the government’s Wind Vane of Prevention Nodes on Fighting COVID-19 unfolded. Interestingly, wind va ne depicts a direction or node tha t the Philippine government ma y la nd in responding to this pa ndemic.
As seen in the simula crum, the va ne consists of four nodes na mely: communica tion node which refers to government’s way of disseminating the needed crucia l informa tion a nd coming up with a n a lterna tive to be a ble to sa ve the lives of ma ny while va ccines a re still in the works; a ccommodation node which perta ins to contingency a nd a uxilia ry efforts from the government in a ddressing the hea lth, socia l and economic concerns brought by COVID-19; a ssessment node which rela tes to the issues tha t ha ve to be improved both of government a nd its people; and impact node which refers to government’s way of reporting the ca ses tha t ma y indica te the result of their mea sure. The extent to which the government curb the impa ct of this virus depends on grea t mea sures na mely:
promoting the new norma l; coming up with an a lterna tive; forming a well-coordina ted pla n; upholding huma nity towa rds the vulnera ble; improving current mea sures; a nd ta llying the ca ses.
Communication Node
It is interesting to note in this study how does the Philippine government fla tten the curve of COVID- 19 without the presence of va ccine. With this, a conveya nce of informa tion wa s rea lized a s a mea sure by promoting the new norma l in living in the community, pa rticula rly, reminding its people to observe a nd a dhere to beha viora l etiquettes or hea lth protocols. This includes physica l dista ncing or keeping one meter a wa y from ea ch other, wea ring of ma sks in public pla ces, the pra ctice of proper ha ndwa shing and sa nitizing a nd other non-medicina l mea sures. As reported in a news a rticle, “Even if ECQ is gradually lifted, Galvez said measures such as physical and social distancing must remain since they are part of the “new norm.”” Sta ted in a nother report, “We cannot live in a way like we used to. We can see that even in mass transport, we need to have social distancing. We might need to put markers just to ensure that social distancing and the new norms that we will create are observed.”
The ga thered a rticles revea led tha t the decla ra tion of strict implementa tion on qua ra ntine directive in a community, urging people to follow wa s
evident through restricting huma n movement, putting a ha lt or police checkpoints in a certa in a rea a nd even limiting the flocking of la rge group. As written in some reports, “Initially, BuCor suspended visitation rights for one week, starting March 11, after President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of public health emergency as cases of COVID-19 in the country continue to increase.” In other a rticle, “As per Manila Barangay Bureau information office, all barangays under Zone 4 are under ‘lockdown’ as a preventive measure against COVID-19. In other words, people from other barangays are no longer allowed to enter that zone”.
Also included in this node which ca n be seen in a rticles is introducing the a lterna tive testing method known as ‘antibodies rapid testing’ aside from what has been currently using – the Polymera se cha in rea ction (PCR) tests. This brea kthrough (a s it wa s developed by loca l scientists in the country) presents a nother wa y of testing proba ble infected pa tients with a fa st result and can cater ‘mass testing’ as another measure to contain the virus and improve the country’s health ma na gement. As seen in a report, “While he said the PCR test could detect the virus on the first da y of illness, the rapid antibody test can detect antibodies about five days on.” This is even supported by a nother report, “Dr. Dominga “Minguita” Padilla said these test kits detect either of two unique antibodies in a COVID-19 patient. The presence of these “soldiers,”
or the body’s natural defenses, was an accurate indicator that the person was positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, the severe acute respiratory disease, she said.”
Doing benchma rks from other countries a s to ha ndling this hea lth situa tion wa s a lso rega rded a s an a lterna tive mea sure ba sed on the da ta . As rea d in an a rticle, “Tayag said the rapid antibody test was popular in China and Korea and was their “secret” to how they were able to conduct massive testing.” In a ddition, requiring everyone’s full cooperation was believed to be of big help a ga inst COVID-19. As penned in a report, “National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the discipline and cooperation of everybody are the “key”
to keep the infection rate low”. All these a ctions mentioned a bove were perceived a s a non- pha rma ceutica l mea sure through the promise of communica tion.
Accommodation node
It is in this trying time tha t the people need a relief support a nd supplementa ry effort to survive.
Specifica lly, those who a re in the periphery a re an unwilling victim. This is when a ccommodation node
tra nspires. The government, more so the President, must come up with a well-coordina ted pla n to respond to the cha llenges of this pa ndemic. The ga thered news articles contained some of government’s arrangement tha t will a ddress the socia l a nd economic issues brought by this globa l concern. This covers its contingency pla n, ensuring economic boost a nd business continuity a midst the crisis, a nd considering the source of fund to utilize. Specific points were seen including budget rea lignment a nd ensuring food security. As reported,
“the government now has greater means to supplement, expand, improve, and intensify existing COVID-19 responses and preventive measures and to further mitigate the social, economic, and financial impact of COVID-19 on all Filipinos,”. This wa s a lso seen in a nother report, “In the same memo, the President authorized the Secretary of the DOLE to authorize alternative working arrangements in the private sector.” Written in other news, “The DBM Secretary must also consider any unutilized or unreleased balance in the special purpose funds of agencies excluding state corporations; allocate cash, funds, investments, including unutilized or unreleased subsidies and transfers, held by any national government agency in order to address the COVID- 19 emergency.”
Rema rka bly, it wa s found out tha t the orchestra tion of this pla n will be possible through the President’s extension of power in order to translate this into rea lity a nd be in-cha rge of curbing the crisis. As wha t the report sa id, “In view of the enactment of RA No. 11469 on 24 March 2020, which granted President powers and authorities necessary to carry out urgent measures to meet the COVID-19 national health emergency recommendations on any further action that the President may need to take.“ This a lso is visible in another report shown, “Whatever recommendations to be presented, ultimately, it will be President Duterte who will decide,” he said, adding that regardless of the post-quarantine scenario to be implemented”.
It is a lso in this node tha t those who a re in the hot zones or the vulnera ble a re being protected such as the frontliners, underprivileged cla ss a nd even those infected persons who a re deprived of liberty or ja il inma tes. Thus, upon rea ding the news, their welfa re and their sta tus quo a re highly considered in this difficult time. As seen in some reports, “In the same memo, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) has been directed to cover the cost of treatment for COVID-19 patients under the National Health Insurance Program as well as shoulder all medical expenses of public and private health workers in case of exposure to COVID-19 or any work-related injury or disease.” Also, wha t the other report sta ted, “The Board of Pardons and Parole is formulating interim guidelines for the expeditious release of PDLs who are
already of old age, sickly or are suffering from terminal illnesses, or with serious disabilities, as well as those eligible for parole or executive clemency, in order to decongest penal facilities,” the report said. “
Assessment node
Out of the current problem, a n a ssessment comes into picture. This is where you determine the a rea s to be improved through eva lua tion a nd recognize the issues tha t ma y become problema tic. Upon rea ding the news a rticles, some of the problems were identified, both from government a nd its people. One of these is the resista nce on the side of the government to try a new mea sure. As reported, “Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday rejected rapid testing,”
Following a nother report, “Duque urged those who continue to push for the use of rapid test kits to “read up more,” given that there were already questions about their reliability.” Additiona lly, a resista nce from the people to follow the qua ra ntine directive and observe beha viora l etiquette ha s a lso been reported from the ga thered da ta . As written in a n a rticle,
“Meanwhile, hundreds reportedly trooped to a public market in Quezon City recently to buy food and other groceries while apparently failing to observe social distancing.” Also revea led in a nother report, “The task force chief particularly pointed out the supposed rising COVID-19 cases in the capital city of Manila, Quezon City, and San Juan City because the lockdown is not being enforced “faithfully.”
It should a lso be noted tha t even the government’s existing pra ctices ma y ha ve a room for improvement. Hence, it must be a ssessed too to a chieve better result. As shown in a n a rticle, “For now, our priority is symptomatics: those with severe cases, vulnerable groups (including) elderly persons, (th ose with) pre-existing conditions, pregnant, and even our health care workers who are already showing symptoms,”. As appeared in other news, “Padilla said the DOH advisory for persons experiencing “mild symptoms” to isolate themselves as a preventive measure does not work as effectively as rapid testing.”
Impact node
Reporting the ta lly a bout how ma ny people were a lrea dy infected or doing sta tistica l effort a t lea st wa s reflected in some a rticles. This node ma y serve as a mea sure to a id the government in ta king a ctions to mitiga te the COVID-19 pa ndemic by knowing the impa ct of their mea sures. As written in a report, “As of 12 noon March 19, the Philippines has recorded 217 cases of COVID-19. Of the number, 17 died while eight recovered from the disease.” In other news, “It is clear to us that the number of COVID-19 cases have not yet decreased” Ho said. “We expect that the number of confirmed cases in the country will continue to rise as
we test more people,” she added.” Seen in a nother a rticle, “As of Monday, the Philippines has 4,932 confirmed cases with 315 deaths and 242 recoveries, according to the Department of Health.”
Discussion
Indeed, wha t the qua lita tive a pproa ch ca n do should not be underestima ted a s it gives a closer look in discovering the underlying theme in multiple la yers of experience. Preventive mea sures a ga inst COVID-19 a re undenia bly importa nt a s there is still no va ccine rolled out in the ma rket. In this study, it is worth mentioning tha t the preventive nodes revea led in this study ma y give the rea ders a direction to comba t the virus a s well a s responding to the cha llenges of it despite the a bsence of the cure.
As purported in this study, the power of communica tion is seen a s a mea sure of impeding the sprea d of the virus by dissemina ting crucia l informa tion a nd promoting the new norm of living. Since there a re no va ccines a va ila ble now, prevention is, by fa r, the most effective wa y to reduce the COVID-19 impa ct and the best prevention is to a void exposure to the virus (Adhika ri et. a l., 2020). Tha t is why the Philippin e government specifica lly, the Depa rtment of Hea lth (DOH) is ma king a n effort to la unch a ca mpaign a ga inst the pa ndemic which is supported by the WHO and conduct a series of media briefings from time to time.
According to WHO-Philippines (2020) website, they a re with DOH on sha ring la test upda tes, givin g technica l a dvice, strengthening la bora tory ca pacities to run ma ny tests a nd pla nning a nd messa ging to communica te the risks a nd enga ge the public rega rding this ma tter. A va riety of ma teria ls ha s been relea sed, promoting the “new normal”. Some of these include wea ring fa cema sks when going out, ma inta ining physica l dista nce a nd ma king proper ha ndwa shing as a ha bit. These a ctions ha ve been shown to successfully dela y the tra nsmission of the virus a nd a s seen in China a nd South Korea , ha s led to conta inment of the virus (Ma eir & Brockma n, 2020; Ba ye, 2020). Putting a community under qua ra ntine a nd tempora ry closing of ma lls, esta blishments, churches, schools, a nd other public pla ces to limit huma n movement were a lso done a s directed a nd a nnounced by the government.
Hence, in this globa l crisis, it is worth mentioning tha t the role of communica tion is highly releva nt a nd needed a s it crea tes a wa reness and knowledge, the two importa nt keys for prevention. It should a lso be noted tha t being una wa re a nd ha ving a la ck of knowledge ma y lea d to the event of getting infected, or worse, dea th. As supported by Seeger (2006), centra l a nd loca l government must develop an integra ted risk communica tion stra tegy tha t a llow people to be informed to minimize irra tiona l beha viors.
Dja la nte et. a l. (2020) a rgues, the limita tion of technical
knowledge a nd tools impedes the effectiveness of the initiatives. In their analysis on Indonesia’s current responses to COVID-19, public misinforma tion and la ck of communica tion a mong government levels triggered a mislea ding interpreta tion through socia l media tools like herba l medica tion ca n bea t viruses quickly a nd some a ctivities such a s sunba thing have been implemented by some government entities.
Indeed, educa ting the minds of people by giving importa nt informa tion will sa ve the lives of ma ny.
People’s unawareness requires health authorities to a pply different mea ns to dissemina te informa tion and educa te people a bout a pplying protective mea sures (Amen et a l., 2020).
In the light of COVID-19 sca re, it is undenia bly true tha t this pa ndemic ha s been bringing not just hea lth issues but a lso socia l a nd economic concerns a nd with this, the government ha s developed a pla n to a ccommodate a nd respond to the needs of those who were impa cted by this crisis. Genna ro et. a l., (2020) posits tha t COVID-19 outbrea k is proving to be an unprecedented disa ster, especia lly in the most a fflicted countries including China , Ita ly, a nd USA in a ll a spects, especia lly hea lth, socia l a nd economic. In a ddition, in the worst-ca se scena rio of the COVID-19, most countries will be unprepa red, with low resources a lloca ted for a ffording the vira l emergency a nd the consequences will be ca ta strophic. With the suspension of severa l business opera tions, ma ny Filipinos who belong to working cla ss a nd those who ea rn on a da ily ba sis ha ve temporarily lost their jobs. Furthermore, this implies tha t people ma y fa ce fina ncia l constra ints.
Therefore, the President, together with the concerned a gencies ca me up with a n intervention, a sking for an extension of powers in a ddressing this cha llenge by giving supplementa l efforts a nd incentives to the community. Such effort wa s seen through Depa rtment of Socia l Work a nd Development’s (DSWD) Social Amelioration Program where Filipino fa milies were given ca sh a ids to suffice the needs a midst the pa ndemic. It is true enough tha t hunger and unemployment, a s a nother preva lent issue in this time of pa ndemic require a cra fting of well-coordina ted plan to respond to these problems. Dja la nte et. a l. (2020) suggests tha t community-based responses ma y help to a llevia te pressure to loca l governments to provide relief responses. Also, urgently ma nda ting loca l governments from their own specia l ta sk force to a ccelerate responses a nd to a chieve coordina ted a nd coherent responses, involving key government depa rtments, especia lly hea lth is importa nt. Beca use of the crea tion of Philippine government’s Inter-Agency COVID-19 Ta sk Force which a ims to give relief support and protection to a ffected Filipinos, pa rticula rly in the periphery, it ca n ea se the fina ncia l burden they ha ve on their shoulders.
Subsequently, since there a re specific workers who risk their lives in fighting this ba ttle, protecting the welfa re of those who a re in the vulnera ble sector including frontliners a nd la w enforcers wa s a lso rea lized a s pa rt of a ccommodation node. Moreover, as sta ted in the findings, there a re reported ca ses in ja ils which led to considera tion of relea sing the infected persons deprived of liberty. Indeed, it is a t this time that the sta tus quo must be recognized by upholding the virtue of compa ssion a nd humanity. As Okoye (2020) a sserts, in reducing the impa ct if COVID-19, hea lthcare resources should be directed a t vulnera ble groups.
Thus, this will a ssist hea lthca re workers to guide high- risk groups, predict a nd control the ra te of disea se progression. By a rriving a t a stra tegic response, those who work in the hot zones ca n be sa fegua rded a nd will still ha ve a cha nce to serve a nd protect more lives.
Simila r to wha t Kha n (2020) a rgues, the stra tegy includes community-based a pproa ch where pla nner, employers a nd community orga nizers ca n ta ke stra tegy to protect vulnera ble groups a nd the community aga inst COVID-19 infection.
Looking in a different dimension, the government’s actions in mitigating this crisis should undergo a n a ssessment in order to strengthen their mea sures. Findings showed tha t there is a resista nce from both the government a nd its people, a nd these were identified a s the a rea s to be improved. It should be noted that one’s openness and willingness to adhere to government’s directive may result in a better outcome. While the government is exerting their effort to fla tten the COVID-19 curve, some residents were reported to being not complia nt in a wa y tha t the qua ra ntine directive is not being followed. It wa s a lrea dy sta ted in this pa per tha t the prevention is, so fa r, the best pra ctice to a void the virus. The a dherence of people to the preventive a nd control mea sures is very crucia l to ensure the mitiga tion of the sprea d of an epidemic, and this is greatly affected by the people’s level of knowledge, a ttitude, a nd pra ctices towa rds COVID-19 pa ndemic (Ajilore et a l., 2017; Amen et a l., 2020). The extent to which the growing infected ca ses of COVID-19 will be curta iled depends on the people’s beha vior a nd complia nce. Sa ura bh & Ra nja n (2020) cla ims, it is obvious tha t implementa tion of qua ra ntine for a voiding the tra nsmission of virus a t community level will be only effective when there is a dherence to comply. On the other ha nd, findings revea led tha t as to government’s room for improvement, there has been relucta nce a nd hesita nce to try a new different method tha t would ca ter more people to get tested. Being receptive to new idea s is a s importa nt a s openness and willingness. DOH’s existing practices must be further a ssessed so tha t it ca n determine the pa ra meters to refine pa rticula rly, their wa y of conducting the tests, in delivering a better hea lth ma na gement. Countries that
a cted quickly a nd implemented preventive mea sures with a ggressive testing, isola tion a nd conta ct tra cing were a ble to conta in the virus well without lockdowns (Lee et a l., 2020; Ba ye, 2020). As issued by WHO (2020), ra mping up production tests a nd in crea sing a va ila bility should be underta ken by the governments to cope with the pa ndemic. Therefore, rea lizing the shortcomings of both the governm ent a nd the residents through a ca reful eva lua tion ma y stop the number of ca ses to pile up.
La stly, reporting the ca ses of those infected, recovered a nd died a lso ma nifested in the findings section of this pa per. This wa s rea lized a s a preventive node in a sense tha t doing a sta tistica l inference may help the government in ta king their a ctions towa rds impeding the crisis. Knowing the ta lly ma y serve as a ba seline in giving informed decisions in ba ttling COVID-19 outbrea k. Wa ng et. a l. (2020) empha sizes the importa nce of doing the sta tistica l a na lysis by sta ting tha t the quick relea se of confirmed ca ses data of Centers for Disea se Control a nd Prevention ena bles them to explore epidemiologica l cha ra cteristics a nd to understa nd more the situa tion a nd cha ra cteristics of the epidemic. Additiona lly, a reported da ta is urgently needed to conduct risk a ssessments, inform policies rela ted to conta inment of COVID-19 a nd ma y play a vita l role in demonstra ting the impa ct to support requests for funding relief from the government (Na idich et. a l. 2020; Anderson et a l., 2020). Moreover, da ta tra nsparency through ta llying the ca ses ma y give a notion whether the government ha s been effective with their intervention or their responses to COVID-19 a re most likely to be unsuccessful. In the a na lysis of Djalante et. al. (2020) on Indonesian government’s preventive mea sure, there wa s a la ck of data tra nspa rency reported a nd such misinforma tion impedes the government’s future responses, indicating the possibility tha t their government’s efforts were not enough.
CONCLUSION
This qua lita tive pa per a ttempts to cha ra cterize the preventive mea sures of the Philippine government through naturalist’s approach, using content analysis as the resea rch design. The findings successfully emerged the four preventive nodes in comba ting a nd responding to the cha llenges of COVID-19. These include communication node, accommodation node, assessment node a nd impact node. Clea rly, in the a bsence of the vaccine, government’s communication strategy of promoting the “new normal” may give a sense of a wa reness a nd provides knowledge to the public which ca n truly help the government in preventing the spread of the virus. Also, the supplementa l effort a nd coordina ted pla ns of the President, together with
concerned a gencies ma y a llevia te ma ny Filipino families’ financial hardships, hunger and unemployment due to the impa ct of the crisis, a s compa ny, schools a nd business opera tions were tempora rily suspended.
Furthermore, the government should pinpoint the problems a nd eva lua te the a spects of their mea sure that need to be a ssessed in order to come up with a better response in suppressing COVID-19 ca ta strophe.
Another wa y to a ssist the government in a rriving at informed decisions in ta king epidemiologica l a ctions towa rds this pa ndemic is ma king sta tistica l inferences.
This study advances the implication of government’s preventive mea sure, guided with current a nd releva nt litera tures tha t ma y help them in cra fting a holistic plan towa rds the mitiga tion of this unprecedented circumsta nce. However, the revea led findings ca nnot genera lize the mea sures tha t the government ha s been implementing beca use the inclusion criteria in ga thering the da ta were limited including the time fra me a nd the pla ce it only focused. Nonetheless, this pa per ga ve us a closer look on government’s path on which direction it ma y ta ke, hence, the preventive nodes.
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