(Fighting New Crown Pneumonia) The United Nations will assist the Philippines with more than 120 million U.S. dollars in response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic

  China News Agency, United Nations, August 4th. The United Nations and humanitarian partners jointly launched an aid plan on the 4th to provide the Philippines with US$121.8 million in response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. This is the largest UN aid program to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013.

  According to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office, there are currently 39 million people in the Philippines who need assistance. The response plan mainly targets the 5.4 million people in the most distressed situation, including 1.4 million children, 267,000 elderly, 71,000 disabled people, and 108,000 medical workers. , And 700,000 farmers and fishermen. Currently, nearly 23% of the funds required for the plan have been in place.

  OCHA said that the response plan will focus on supporting the government in preventing and controlling the new crown epidemic, reducing the number of cases and reducing mortality; at the same time, it will assist the government in reducing losses, supporting public livelihoods, and enhancing social cohesion; in addition, it will also provide assistance to displaced people, indigenous people, Provide assistance to marginalized communities and other vulnerable groups.

  The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that the currently reported cases of infection in the Philippines include a considerable number of returning overseas laborers and stranded local personnel. These people often fail to comply with epidemic prevention measures, leading to an increase in infections. According to Philippine government statistics, since February this year, more than 142,000 overseas workers have returned to the Philippines. As the impact of the epidemic on the global economy intensifies, it is expected that the number of laborers returning in the next few months will increase significantly.

  OCHA said that as a low- and middle-income country, the Philippines’ medical system is under tremendous pressure under the new crown epidemic. As of May this year, the occupancy rate of intensive care units in the Philippines has reached 55%. Among them, the intensive care capacity in Cebu is close to saturation, while Mindanao continues to face a shortage of personal protective equipment.

  In terms of economy, the important pillars of the Philippine economy-tourism and overseas remittances have been severely affected by the epidemic. The country's GDP this year may decrease by 3.8%, and in the worst case it may decrease by 5%. According to the statistics of the Philippine government, the unemployment rate in the country has risen to 17.7% in June, and the unemployed population has reached 7.3 million.

  The OCHA stated that the assistance program will provide support to the Philippine government in areas such as health, food safety, water and sanitation, protection, and risk publicity, and will be adjusted in time with the development of the epidemic until the end of this year. (Finish)