MANILA: The World Bank is giving the Philippines a $500 million loan to help the country’s fight against coronavirus.
The funding is part of a $14 billion fast-track package from the World Bank Group to strengthen the response of developing countries to the pandemic and shorten the recovery time.
As of Friday the Philippines had 4,195 cases and a death toll of 221. President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a public health emergency and a state of calamity.
“The World Bank is committed to supporting efforts to strengthen the Philippines’ capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters as well as health and economic shocks like COVID-19,” said Achim Fock, who is the World Bank’s acting country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. “Natural disasters and pandemics disproportionately hurt poor families and communities. Enhancing risk management and the capacity to address these challenges can help ensure that the Philippines can sustain progress in poverty reduction.”
The Philippines is one of the most hazard-prone countries in the world, according to the World Bank, because it is exposed to multiple natural hazards including typhoons, earthquakes, flooding, storm surges, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides. Around 74 percent of the population is vulnerable to natural disasters and 60 percent of the total land area is exposed to multiple hazards, it adds.
The US is providing the Philippines with $4 million in aid to help address the health crisis. US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said the assistance would support laboratory system preparedness, case-finding and event-based surveillance, technical expert response and preparedness, risk communication, and infection prevention.
The US has also donated around 1,300 new beds to aid patients and frontline medical professionals.
