Philippines looks to adopt Pakistan's 'successful' Covid-19 strategy

Expert lauds Pakistan's smart lockdown strategy, says his country looking to replicate

A renowned business risk consultancy firm on Wednesday said that the Philippines may look at the successful strategy adopted by Pakistan in its fight against Covid-19

Pakistan is among a handful of countries where cases of Covid-19 have dropped considerably in the recent weeks.

The country has over 281,000 confirmed cases, with nearly 257,000 recoveries and over 6,000 deaths. It recorded its peak on June 14 with 6,825 Covid-19 cases.

“If you’re looking for a country as an example, it may be possible that we can learn something from Pakistan. The situations are sort of analogous,” PSA Philippines Consultancy Inc. Director for Business Intelligence Greg Wyatt said during a webinar.

He said that the Philippines and Pakistan have in common in terms of number of vulnerable people, growth inequality, and limited healthcare, but despite these challenges, Pakistan has managed to bring down the number of daily Covid-19 cases and added that the country's government managed the Covid-19 situation through targeted testing and lockdowns.

“Pakistan does not go back to large scale lockdowns, only localised lockdowns and testing where coronavirus hotspot, and all that appears to have worked very well,” he added.

Wyatt added Pakistan was able to bring down the number of daily cases while maintaining the positive rate low.

He said the Philippine government was currently doing the targeted lockdowns and testing, however, it is yet to know if it will be able to replicate Pakistan’s results.

The story originally appeared in Philippine News Agency