Philippine Embassy exec lauds Austrian gov’t for subsidizing employers amid COVID-19 pandemic

Published December 2, 2021 1:52pm Philippine Embassy to Vienna Charge d’ Affairs Deena Joy Amatong on Thursday lauded Austria's government support to employers amid the COVID-19 pandemic which benefited the Filipinos there. "We are always in touch with the Filipino community here and are always checking in if they have been well. Fortunately, they are well since the Austrian government has implemented COVID-19 economic measures," Amatong said during the Laging Handa briefing. "There is a government-subsidized federal jobs program wherein the government aids the employers amid the pandemic," she added. A day earlier, the Philippines ranked last among 53 countries in the Bloomberg COVID-19 Resiliency Report ranking for the second straight month. Acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles responded to this by arguing that the Bloomberg report lacked country-specific gauge and placed heavy importance on reopening progress. "We acknowledge that the data provided by Bloomberg in its COVID-19 Resilience Ranking may be useful in evaluating our pandemic response. [But] we have to consider that the 53 countries in the report have different COVID-19 experiences and strategies. There is little consideration for country-specific COVID-19 context, which in our view is imperative to objectively assess how countries managed pandemic response," Nograles said. "A case in point is the importance given by Bloomberg in reopening progress, which involves lockdown severity, flight capacity, and vaccinated travel routes," Nograles added. Austria, on the other hand, has at least 167,000 active COVID-19 cases and that 644 out of 2,000 ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients according to Amatong. Amatong said the Austrian government has already implemented a 10-day lockdown from December 1 to 10 amid discovery of a new coronavirus variant Omicron. This means that restaurants, cafes, museums, and shops that sell non-essential goods will remain closed. Groceries, pharmacies, banks, and postal service providers are the only establishments, however, will be open. There are around 30,000 Filipinos in Austria based on Department of Foreign Affairs records in 2018. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News

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