The number of Afghan civilians killed and injured in the conflict has failed to slow since the start of intra-Afghan peace talks, although the overall civilian casualty figure for the first nine months of 2020 dropped by around 30 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

Several Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) were constructed across the country and these have in turn been used in the COVID-19 response. Although these centers have not been used to accommodate confirmed COVID-19 patients, they have however been used as quarantine centers for people under observations.

The Duterte administration has assigned former military generals to deal with Covid-19 and has sent police Special Forces to contain communities.

The word “church” is used by the Government but not “masjid”, “temple” or “mandir”, much like the duplicitous exclusion of non-Christian organisations in many “inter-faith services”. Is this an expression of indifference, intolerance, non-recognition or contempt for non-Christian faiths by an Afro-Christian-led Government? In an ethnically-plural society like ours, “church” cannot be used as a generic term. It connotes exclusion and discrimination.