A week before the country marks its first year of being under community quarantine, Malacañang on Monday described the government’s response against Covid-19 as “excellent”.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Philippines is successfully controlling the spread of Covid-19 better than wealthier nations with more developed healthcare sectors.

“We were excellent. Na-control po natin ang pagkalat ng sakit lalung-lalo na kung ikukumpara tayo sa mas mayayaman at mga bansa na mas mararami at mas moderno ang mga ospital (We were able to control the spread of the virus especially compared to richer countries with more and more modern hospitals),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Compared to the United States that has recorded over 500,000 Covid-19 deaths, Roque said the Philippines has more than 12,500 deaths.

“We were excellent in managing it. Unfortunately, habang wala ang bakuna, talagang maraming mahahawa at mayroon pa ring mamamatay (while there is no vaccine, there would really be many infections and deaths). But we have limited deaths to around 12,000 – ikumpara mo naman iyan sa Estados Unidos ‘no (compare that to the US),” he said.

The government, he said, also prohibited those most vulnerable to Covid-19 from leaving their homes.

“We regret that people died but this is a pandemic and we all know now how to prevent these deaths because we know who are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 – the seniors, kaya nga ginawa natin sila ang mga homeliners kasama na iyong mga with comorbidities ‘no (that’s why we turned them into homeliners along with those with comorbidities),” he said.

He pointed out that the government was also quick to impose community quarantines nationwide to curb the spread of the virus.

“We declared ECQ just in time na dahilan na hindi tayo napagaya ngayon sa rest of the world na ngayon lang sila nagla-lockdown (which is the reason why we didn’t end up like the rest of the world that just imposed their lockdowns),” he added.

He also said the government prioritized upgrades in the country’s healthcare system capacity.

“Napalaki natin iyong kapasidad na magbigay ng medical attention doon sa magkakasakit, reason why we have 60 percent [intensive care unit] availability (We were able to enhance our capacity to give medical attention to those getting sick, the reason why we have a 60 percent ICU availability),” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on March 15 last year. The following day, the ECQ was expanded over the entire Luzon.

On Monday, health authorities recorded 3,356 additional Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 597,763.

Recoveries reached 545,912 after six more people recuperated while five recently died to bring the death toll to 12,521. (PNA)