IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE PHILIPPINES

The novel coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, emerged for the first time
on Chinese territory in December 2019, particularly in Wuhan, China. The impact of
this devastating disease on jobs, the economy and people’s personal lives worldwide
is enormous. The exponential effect of this novel virus has triggered the large-scale
closure of economies, job losses, painful living changes, and the untimely death of
loved ones. The Philippines is one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19
pandemic in the Southeast Asian region. Since then we have been battling with the
spread of COVID-19, combined with the surmountable challenge of meeting people’s
basic health and socio-economic needs.

The impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health receives less attention
or is placed on the back burner, which has much more long-term implications and
consequences. Facing the fact that there is no vaccine yet available to prevent the
continuous spread of the novel coronavirus, combined with an ever increasing
number of positive cases, and not knowing precisely when the virus will be
vanquished, is a difficult challenge to many.

Concerns such as how to live socially and financially in the midst of a

pandemic; the unexpected changes in everyday life and how to cope up with them;
the unending fear of infection, the fear of dying from the virus, or the worry that the
family member or parent may be infected with COVID-19 and die, and the threat of
not being able to obtain medical attention in time are also at stake. Simply not
knowing what is going to happen in the coming days has added to the fear of every
Filipinos in this midst of pandemic. All these doubts, concerns and tension added to
the everyday grind of life, add to the psychological burden of people.

References:

Malindog, A. (2020) COVID-19 Impact On Mental Health Of Filipinos

Retrieved from: https://theaseanpost.com/article/covid-19-impact-
mental-health-filipinos

Delos Santos, J. and Labrague L. (2020) Impact of COVID-19 on the Psychological

Well-Being Retrieved from:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.05.20167411v1.full.
pdf