MANILA - The Philippines moved up the ranks in an international index that measures a country’s resilience to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the omicron surge.

The country is now on the 50th spot from 53rd in Bloomberg’s COVID Resilience Index for February that measures the pandemic response of 53 nations. [INDEX https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-resilience-ranking/]

Bloomberg's COVID Resilience Index is a monthly assessment of how countries are effectively handling the pandemic.

Indicators include virus containment, quality of healthcare, vaccination, overall mortality and international travel restrictions, among others, Bloomberg said.

Positive test rate was removed from the current indicators "as more and more countries shift to treating the virus on a similar level to influenza," Bloomberg said.

"In an era of high vaccination and normalization, the rate is no longer the red flag that it used to be," according to the report.

The country has been reporting less than 2,000 confirmed infections in the previous days from its peak of over 39,000 in January driven by the omicron surge. The Health Department said the country is "ripe" for Alert Level 1.

Mobility restriction in the National Capital Region was relaxed to Alert Level 2 with authorities looking into further easing as cases stabilize.

• Mayors recommend Alert Level 1 for NCR beginning March

In terms of vaccination, at least 62.5 million have been fully inoculated as of Feb. 21. This is equivalent to 69.61 percent of the government target.

• Philippines: COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
• Philippines again at bottom of Bloomberg's COVID Resilience Ranking

The United Arab Emirates, Ireland and Saudi Arabia were ranked as the top 3 places to be based on the report. Followed by Norway and Australia in the top 5 spots.

Pakistan, meanwhile, replaced the Philippines in the bottom spot. Hong Kong, which is facing an omicron surge, moved to the 52nd spot.

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