PRELIM OUTPUT

GROUP WRITTEN REPORT: Health and Wellness

FOCUS: COVID-19 Implications and Country’s Pandemic Response

Submitted by Group 4:

Abadilla, Von Jenzen Arkel

Amit, James Arvin

Herbon, Joanna Maria

Manipolo, Demi Mae

Perez, Jhustine Rhed

Santos, Medalaine

Valeña, John Bryan

 It has been 2 years since the COVID - 19 pandemic started and came to be known as one
of the worst health crises that struck the world. It has fiercely changed people’s way of life, from
how they socialize with other people to how they do their everyday tasks. Governments from all
parts of the world, including the Philippines, do their best to aid their citizens in these hard times.
But despite the different measures that were implemented by the health and governance system,
the damage brought by the pandemic is never-ending and the Philippines still stands as the most
unsafe country to be living in during the pandemic among the Asia – Pacific Region (Narvaez,
2020).

In terms of disease management and infection spread, the COVID-19 pandemic has
definitely caused greater stress and fear in communities because of the fear and social stigma
associated with COVID-19, many people in the community disguise their condition and refuse to
seek treatment in a timely manner. Furthermore, because of the widespread use of social media,
rumors, misconceptions, and incorrect information about the virus is quickly spreading, leading to
increased irritability, dread, insomnia, oppositional behaviors, and somatic symptoms. Given the
importance of all of these aspects, the group wants to learn more about the community's thoughts
and attitudes concerning COVID-19 and how it affects their daily lives and mental health (Feroz,
2022).
Uncertain prognosis, looming severe shortages of resources for testing and treatment, as
well as for helping to protect responders and health care providers from virus, the impact of
unfamiliar public health measures that infringe on personal freedoms, huge and increasing loss of
income, and conflicting information from officials are among the sources of stress that will
definitely contribute to widely. In those who contract the virus and the wider society, these impacts
may show as a variety of emotional reactions, unhealthy behaviors, and noncompliance with public
health guidelines including such time served and vaccination (Pfefferbaum & North, 2020).
When it comes to employment and financial aspects, the Philippines Statistics Authority in
November reported that the labor market has reported its lowest unemployment rate since the start
of the pandemic. With the drop in unemployment rate, the families that came from poverty have
rather come to unsettling choices in order to provide for their families, many of them breaking
quarantine rules. Although Lack of income opportunities and reduction of pay/salary were pre –
existent challenges that people faced, situations like insufficient food supply, health sanitations,
and nutrition issues that the pandemic brought to disaster prone communities had significantly
worsened their situations to the point of pushing themselves further down the lines of poverty
(GOVPH, 2022),

In order to further understand the situation of the Philippines in terms of the ongoing
pandemic, including its main concerns and its causes, the group conducted a five (5) question
survey to fifteen (15) random respondents. The short survey answers the questions on (a) how well
they are doing during these times, and (b) how satisfied they are with the government’s response
during this pandemic. The survey consists of close type questions or statements which give the
respondents a range of options, starting with “Strongly disagree” scaling up to “Strongly agree”.

For figure 1, which shows the frequency of answers for the statement “I am coping well
during this pandemic.”, indicates that 53.3% of the total respondents are neutral, meaning to say
that they are not struggling nor coping well during this pandemic. On the other hand, 26.7 % of
the total respondents disagree and are not coping well during this pandemic. Meanwhile, 13.3% of
the respondents agree and another 6.7% strongly agree.

A feasible explanation for the data gathered by the group is that different people deal with
the pandemic in different ways, though some are not that affected or totally affected with the
situation brought by the pandemic, we cannot just ignore those minority who have hard to cope
during these difficult times. According to Panarese and Azzarita (2021), with the changes brought
about by the pandemic, people have a hard time getting used to the new normal because of imposed
lockdowns, school closures, and work-from-home systems. Because of these factors, people are
forced to change their habits and routines, which brings a possible impact on their lifestyle and
wellbeing. While changes could be a good thing, it is opposite this time, with some losing their
jobs, forced to quit school, and forced to work in isolation.

In figure 2, it shows the respondents answers to the statement “The current pandemic
affects my wellbeing including my mental health.” Based on the data, 40% of the respondents have
strongly agreed that their wellbeing has been affected by the pandemic. While the 20% are neutral
on how they were being affected. Moreover, 13.3% of the respondents agreed, 13.3% disagreed,
and 13.3% strongly disagree that their wellbeing is affected by the pandemic.

A feasible explanation for this data is that the current pandemic has evidently affected the
wellbeing of people, including their mental health. According to Newman (2020), people from all
over the world experience mental health problems during this pandemic, like being depressed,
anxious, and feeling stressed. With the imposed restrictions on socializing and self-isolation, this
puts people on the feeling of being alone, which then triggers more feelings for some, like being
depressed. The situation with the pandemic also triggers anxiety when it comes to health concerns
and the fear of getting the virus. Lastly, there is the concern of work, where people lose their jobs
and struggle to find a new one. With this, they feel stressed because they are not only trying to
fight the viral pandemic, but also their hunger.

For figure 3, the survey asked whether or not the current pandemic has affected the way
they live their lives. From the figure above it is seen that the respondents mostly answered Agree
with a 46.7 percentage, strongly agree with 26.7%, then neutral and strongly disagree sitting with
the same percentages at 13.3.

Based on the data driven from the survey, most people would agree that the pandemic has
changed their way of living. It has changed how we work, learn, and interact with one another.
The pandemic has brought on many challenges that people still face to this day, triggering waves
of health issues both mental and physical as these were the leading causes of health-related burden
(Santomauro et al., 2021). It was students who answered the surveys and we already know how
prevalent the effects of the pandemic were especially to students, whether it is managing
depression or anxiety, even social isolation or as simple as general stress. The issues listed here
are only the tip of the iceberg, there are more issues that arise in people’s lives because of the
pandemic which ultimately changed their way of life.
 In figure 4, the respondents were asked if they are satisfied with the local government unit’s
response to the ongoing pandemic. It is shown in the data that 20% of the respondents have voted
“agree” that they are satisfied with the local government unit’s response to the ongoing pandemic.
While 60% voted for “neutral” if they’re satisfied with the local government unit’s response.
Moreover, 6.7% of respondents voted on “strongly agree” and 13.3% voted for “disagree” if they
are satisfied with the local government unit’s response to the pandemic.

Based on the survey that the group conducted, the chart shows that most of the respondents
are neutral when it comes to their satisfaction with their local government unit’s response, while
there are some who are indeed satisfied. With the numerous LGU’s that the Philippines has, there
certainly would be some who would perform well when it comes to responding to the pandemic.
In a study from Talabis (2021), Some of the implementations made by the different local
government units to mitigate the impact of the pandemic are: lockdowns in the area where there is
a positive case of COVID-19, establishment of quarantine facilities for those affected by the
disease, strict border control, curfews for specific age brackets, and most importantly, social
distancing in all areas to prevent infection with each other. While these measures and policies are
the best way to contain the spread of the virus, some LGUs failed to do so for the reason that there
are some that do not give their maximum effort in doing their respective jobs and downplaying the
severity of the situation. With this, the collective effort of those who aim to prevent the spread of
the virus has gone to waste.

In figure 5, the respondents were asked if they are satisfied with the country’s response to
the ongoing pandemic. It is shown in the data that 20% of the respondents have voted “agree” that
they are satisfied with the country’s response to the ongoing pandemic. While 26.7% voted for
“neutral” if they’re satisfied with the country’s response. Moreover, 6.7% of respondents voted on
“strongly agree”, 13.3 % voted “strongly disagree” and 33.3% voted for “disagree” to the statement
that they are satisfied with the country’s response to the pandemic.

Based on the data, the majority of the respondents say that they are not satisfied with how
the country handles the ongoing pandemic The main causes of concerns about the response of our
world in relation to the pandemic response on health and wellness are the following: for example,
the way a government handles the situation for their people. Other governments handle this
pandemic situation properly, while other governments in other countries handle it poorly, resulting
in an increasing number of cases and health problems for people. An article written by Beltran
(2020), stated that Manila’s overall response to the pandemic has been fraught with incompetence
and he also said that the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) came on
the heels of serious negligence, namely, the authorities failing to keep up with the preventive
measures of neighboring countries and grossly underestimating the virus. Lastly, the people in the
country can also be a main cause of the problem, especially those who do not follow the rules
implemented in order to contain the virus.

The presented data together with the interpretation, entails the main concerns about the
group’s chosen topic, which is about health and wellness, focusing on COVID-19 implications and
the country’s pandemic response. Based on the conducted survey, the respondents are not doing
well during these hard times due to trouble coping with the pandemic and having their mental
health affected. With the concerns about mental health, the government sector Department of
Health (DOH) provides the citizens with a mobile app that gives access to self-help and self-care
resources to address their mental health needs. There are also existing crisis hotline numbers
provided to aid those who need psychological help (WHO, 2020).

In order to have an effective response against the pandemic, the church has followed
multiple processes. One of which is the engagement with the community and building response
teams within the church that can help assess and help those who are in need. According to an
Article by Maximiano in 2018, the church has been known globally as one of the biggest charitable
organizations. Churches are defined as a spiritual institution but they substantially hold more
purpose than that, ranging from overseeing hospitals, clinics, homes and 65% percent of them
being located at underdeveloped areas. Fixating on the churches’ response during the pandemic,
multiple religious leaders across the world have promoted quarantine and travel bans (Ikhwan &
Yulianto, 2020), corroborating with the government to help with the crises and protect the people.
Offering spiritual relief was also relevant during the pandemic, because the Philippines is a country
where 81% of its people identify as Roman Catholics; it is evident how important spiritual and
religious interventions are, they have helped people and guided them in finding acceptance
(Castillo et al., 2020). Offering material relief as well, they have spent a large scale of their budget
in order to maintain their charitable projects, they believe that as members of God’s temple it is
their duty to adhere with the teachings of Christ which is to attend to those who are sick and to
those who are suffering.
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