Essay: The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines: How Patients Are Managed and Treated

Recently, a single microorganism caused an enormous impact on the living of every person in every country. The novel human coronavirus or the COVID-19 virus has caused a vast pandemic that rarely happens in an individual’s lifespan. It has become the fifth pandemic after the flu pandemic in 1918 (Liu et al., 2020). In 2019, this was taken as a minor problem, unexpected enough that it took a turnaround in the month of March 2020 where the virus broadened worldwide. Consequently, the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemic (WHO, 2020).
COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a catastrophe for human lives. As in previous emergencies, vulnerable populations, those at risk for poor physical, psychological, or social health, are impacted the most undoubtedly, at increased risk (Aday et al., 2003). As of the first day of November 2021, it is reported that the Philippines has 2,790,375 positive cases of COVID-19; 43,276 of these patients died, and fortunately, 2,703,914 of them recovered from the fatal virus (Worldometer, 2021). The different provinces and cities around the country are still under quarantine: ECQ, MECQ, GCQ, and MGCQ. Also, some mass gatherings and travels – locally and internationally are still restricted to avoid the spread of the virus.
In April 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) explained the protocols mandated for the treatment of the confirmed COVID-19 cases – severe, mild, and asymptomatic. Different doctors from different schools and hospitals included how medicines should be accurately managed, how the healthcare workers should monitor the patients’ situations, health care facilities, and how contact tracing should be administered.
If an individual possesses the signs and symptoms of the COVID-19 virus disease, a test such as an antigen test, rapid test, saliva test, swab test, or RT-PCR test should be immediately done to know how these patients should be accurately managed. And if this was confirmed positive, the victim should be automatically isolated to prevent the further spread of the virus. Consequently, the government must search for the people who had contact with the patient and had them tested also.
Patients with severe symptoms are brought to hospitals for them to be treated as they should be and for them to have someone to look over them in case of emergencies. These patients require more monitoring and time. Moreover, people with mild symptoms are directed to COVID-19 health care facilities that were mandated by the local governments. They must have individual beds and spaces. Also, their places should have good ventilation, and their food must be provided. Health care workers and volunteers ought to administer all the needs of patients with mild conditions. Furthermore, patients that are asymptomatic (no symptoms experienced) are allowed to be home quarantined, yet, self-isolation is required. If resources are unavailable, they can also be directed to local health care facilities (DOH, 2020).
According to Dr. Alejandria, the president of the Philippine Society of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases and a professor at the University of the Philippines General Hospital, COVID-19 patients need to undertake blood tests and x-ray or CT scans for monitoring processes. On the other hand, there are still no available medicines that are established to be safe and effective in directly curing COVID-19. Yet, the standard care protocol to treat COVID-19 patients is through monitoring them, administering paracetamol, and hydration. If difficulty in breathing occurs, the patient will be brought to the ICU and provided ventilators to support the lung function. On top of that, Dr. Gauiran, a hematologist at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), explained the convalescent plasma therapy which agreed with the strict protocols issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is a way of treatment where the plasma (the yellow liquid part of the blood) from individuals who recovered from the COVID-19 virus will be transfused to patients who are currently fighting against the said virus. Meanwhile, according to Dr. Ho, the OIC- Director IV for Health Promotion and Communication Service, implied that patients with mild conditions should not take any antibiotics without any prescriptions from medical professionals. Instead, she advised that they must drink paracetamol every four hours for the management of fever. She added: fevers can also be managed by drinking enough water, fresh fruit juice, or mild tea, bathing regularly, dressing comfortably, and using the appropriate blankets while in a well-ventilated environment (DOH, 2020).
Despite the protocols mandated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH), a number of Filipinos who are COVID-19 victims and survivors did not obtain any of these accurate treatments and management. Some of them died, and some of them recovered by themselves.
As of the 31st day of October 2021, over 59 million shots of different COVID-19 vaccines were disseminated to Filipinos. In fact, 27.3 million of the Filipino population were already fully vaccinated (Kabagani, 2021). And as the vaccination process in different localities continues, the trend of the COVID-19 cases is fortunately continuously decreasing, which implies a “true decline” (Magsambol, 2021). In spite of this delightful broadcast, the government of the Philippines is still resuming the implementation of safety protocols to continue the downtrend of the cases. Furthermore, the proper management for the COVID-19 patients should still be administered appropriately.
The COVID-19 survivors’ perceptions of the local government’s response to them, patients should be acquired and examined in order to gauge the general public’s, particularly the survivors’, satisfaction with the local governments’ response and treatment of the COVID-19 patients. Currently, there are still no published studies and researches concerning the same topic. The findings of this study may provide details that will aid in identifying incompetent services and policies emitted by the Philippines’ local government health care system. Furthermore, this research is intended to benefit future studies by providing a rich source of research gaps and information for initiating and conducting studies in this area. Although the survey does not represent the views of the entire Filipino population, it does represent a significant section of the population that can be used as a starting point for resolving the local government’s shortcomings and inefficiencies.