@Zed most of the folks on this site are from the USA. I think I am speaking for the majority of us, that we have no idea what the present situation is in the Philippines is. It’s always good to get a firsthand view of situations on the other side of the world.

Please give us more information on conditions in your country. Thanks!

Of course it can fight. The question is how long before the first world gets a handle on the disease, and is able to divert its attention to the 3rd. I fear for those in the gap.

Ordering the police and the military to shoot people protesting the nation’s lockdown over the coronavirus is not a very good way to earn support.

Duterte is a thug, who only sees killing people as a way of getting things done. That means anything he declares to solve a problem like Covid 19 will be questioned. Go ask people who live in Market Three if they trust him.

Yes, but not as effectively as developed nations.

Social distancing is a cheap, effective strategy that 3rd World countries can do. It’s just a matter of doing it.

The people in some third world countries often have a very difficult time socially distancing because it’s totally not part of their culture. One of my daughters has been working in West Africa on the Mercy Ship. Many times patients would need to be quarantined because of an illness, but they found it so painful they cried the entire time that they were isolated. It was relatively easy to enforce social distancing for these individuals because Mercy Ship medical professionals were there to make it happen. Asking them to voluntarily do this as individuals in such a culture is not going to be very effective.

The concept of actually having to be physically away from other people is excruciating for them.

I’m not saying that’s true of every third world country, but it is the case there.

Different countries rely on different infrastructures. Shifting to social distancing model intensifies inequities of wealth and information.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/03/us/coronavirus-stay-home-rich-poor.html?referringSource=articleShare

Well, I would say yes, yes they can, I am from Kenya (a third world country) and we pretty much have similar measures taken as to other developed countries like social distancing, wearing of face masks, curfew and many more. But on the other hand, third world countries lack resources such as legit testing equipment, ventilators, and facilities but some third world countries seem to be fighting the virus perfectly against the odds. Don`t take my answer as `it depends` type of answer, I say the third world countries can fight the coronavirus.