The Philippines is dead last on a list of countries in Asia Pacific considered the safest during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an evaluation by a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm.

Deep Knowledge Ventures, which is focused on health care and longevity technology, ranked 20 countries in Asia Pacific on these parameters: lowest likelihood of infection, lowest chance of mortality, and highest likelihood of recovery based on efficiency of quarantine and government management, monitoring and detection, and emergency treatment readiness.

The Philippines ranked 20th on the list, behind Indonesia (19th) and Bangladesh (18th), meaning it is considered the least safe and most at-risk country in Asia Pacific.

Photo by Deep Knowledge Ventures .

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In an interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, Dmitry Kaminskiy, DKV's founder and managing partner, said these countries are likely to face "quite negative dynamics" in the coming weeks, lamenting the "inefficiency of government management" in the Philippines in particular.

Topping the list and earning the highest marks in the safety ranking in Asia Pacific are South Korea at number one, followed by Australia, China, New Zealand, and Taiwan.

Those in the middle level include Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and India.

In a separate article on Forbes, Margaretta Colangelo, co-founder and managing partner of Deep Knowledge Group, said the Asia Pacific ranking applies a modified version of DKV’s global COVID-19 Countries Safety and Risk Ranking Frameworks tuned to the specifics of the region.

“Given that the pandemic originated in APAC, and that it is several weeks ahead of other countries in the overall timeline of the COVID-19, special attention should be given to the unique characteristics of the region,” she said.

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As of Tuesday, April 14, the Philippines has the most number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, with 5,223, and 335 deaths. Malaysia is second with 4,897 cases and 82 deaths, and Indonesia third with 4,839 cases and 459 deaths.

Meanwhile, DKV’s global ranking of the safest countries to be in during the coronavirus pandemic puts Israel on top, retaining the number one spot from a previous safety ranking. Others that earned high marks include Germany, South Korea, Australia, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Photo by Deep Knowledge Ventures .

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Colangelo said data for over 200 countries was analyzed and 60 countries were ultimately included in the rankings. The countries were evaluated using 24 specific parameters in four categories: Quarantine Efficiency, Government Management Efficiency, Monitoring and Detection, and Emergency Treatment Readiness.

“The Safety and Risk Rankings take into account protection from COVID infection, mortality and negative patient outcomes, metrics on quarantining and infection monitoring, detection, and management, and safety and stability in the broadest sense, including protection from extreme negative outcomes as a result of the pandemic beyond health,” she added.

Photo by Deep Knowledge Ventures .

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Globally, the Philippines placed ninth in the 20 countries most at risk during the pandemic. In this list, Italy remains in the top spot, followed by the USA, the UK, Spain, France, Sweden, Iran and Ecuador. Romania completes the top 10.

“The COVID-19 Risk Ranking Framework conducts benchmarking of countries according to their levels of risk according to a variety of medical and non-medical factors, including risk of infection, hospitalization, death and lasting health conditions, as well as the country’s risk of negative economic, quality-of-life and geopolitical issues resulting from the pandemic,” Colangelo said in the Forbes article.

For the latest COVID-19 cases, check out our reportr COVID-19 case tracker link.

For the latest news and updates on COVID-19, check out reportr.world/covid-19.