Coronavirus Lockdown: Ice Cream Makers, Arresting Beggars, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.

This series is title "Coronavirus Lockdown" and that is because the Philippines remains under lockdown at various levels.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/758968/up-experts-recommend-11-areas-for-stricter-quarantine-classifications/story/

The University of the Philippines OCTA Research has advised the government to implement stricter quarantine classifications in 11 areas, based on the data from August 25 to October 5.

In its report dated October 6, the experts said nine areas are considered high-risk because their daily attack rate per 1000 is greater than 1.0%.

Aside from this, the experts said these areas have an attack rate for the current week that is also higher compared to both of the two previous weeks.

“The national government may consider reverting to a stricter quarantine classification for the aforementioned areas,” the group said.

As part of the rolling quarantines four villages in Samar have been placed under an enhanced quarantine.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1117765

Four villages in Catbalogan City in Samar were placed under enhanced community quarantine on Tuesday to prevent further spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

 

The strict movement restrictions in Maulong, Muñoz, Poblacion 7, and Poblacion 13 will be enforced until revoked or extended by the city government, Mayor Dexter Uy said in a statement. 

 

"These areas within the critical zone have the highest number of active coronavirus cases in the city. The stricter quarantine measures will limit movement of people and further spread of the virus," he added.

 

Of its 57 villages, Uy said 37 have reported at least one case, of which 18 have active cases.

 

As directed, strict home quarantine must be observed in all households except for availing essential goods and services.

 

The city government will enforce a 24/7 curfew and liquor ban in affected areas and prohibit all social and religious gatherings, including outdoor exercises.

 

Uy said they will also strictly monitor establishments to ensure full compliance with health protocols such as availability of handwashing area and footbath at entrances, use of thermal scanners, installation of physical barriers and appropriate markings to encourage physical distancing, and digital quarantine pass scanner.

 

Stores are also encouraged to adopt cashless transactions, he added.

 

Meanwhile, all villages outside the critical zone were placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

Perhaps there will be no need for these measures as it appears the number of cases is declining. So say experts with the UP.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/758962/covid-19-cases-in-the-philippines-decreasing-up-experts/story/

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has been decreasing, according to the University of the Philippines OCTA Research team.

In its report dated October 6, an advance copy of which has been provided to GMA News, the team said the country's reproduction number, which describes the reproduction of COVID-19 cases, has kept its downward trend.

“The number of cases in the Philippines has been decreasing, and currently at less around 2,500 new cases per day (based on case reports),” the OCTA Research team said.

This is lower compared to the almost 4,000 new cases per day recorded during the last week of August.

“The reproduction number in the Philippines is 0.87, in line with the downward trend in test reports,” it added. A reproduction number below 1 means a flattened curve, according to the experts.

There are the same experts urging the government to place 11 areas under a restricted quarantine classifications!

The Philippines could soon participate in phase 3 trials for a COVID-19 vaccine.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1345127/3-intl-covid-19-vaccine-makers-gunning-for-phase-3-clinical-trials-in-ph

Local vaccine experts are currently reviewing the applications of three international vaccine manufacturers to decide if Phase 3 of their respective clinical trials can be done in the Philippines to test the safety and efficacy of the vaccines developed against COVID-19.

According to Dr. Jaime Montoya, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, the three drug makers are China’s Sinovac, Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, and the Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

During Phase 3 of the clinical trials, thousands of patients will be inoculated to assess the safeness and effectiveness of the COVID-19 shots.

But since the Philippines does not have proper cold storage facilities to house the vaccine how would this work exactly? Would they bring their own storage facilities? Pills would be better.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/10/09/2048356/doh-greenlights-recruitment-participants-avigan-trial

The Department of Health said it has given the go signal for the recruitment of participants in a clinical trial that aims to study the efficiency of anti-flu drug Avigan on treating the coronavirus disease.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department is just waiting for the insurance documents to be finalized but it has given the permission for the recruitment of study participants to go ahead.

“We already gave the signal to our proponents. They are now going to start recruiting for the trial,” Vergeire said in a media briefing Friday.

Some 100 patients would take part in the trial that would study Avigan as a possible COVID-19 treatment.

Once participants are enrolled in the trial, the study can officially start “hopefully by next week,” Vergeire added.

The clinical evaluation of the Japanese drug was initially slated on August 17 but processing delays hampered the start of the trial.

The Philippine General Hospital, Santa Ana Hospital, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Quirino Memorial Center are the participating hospitals.

The DOH earlier said that P18 million had been allocated for the clinical trial.

Clinical trials in China suggested that Avigan could play a role in shortening the recovery time for patients who have contracted the new coronavirus. However, there are concerns about the drug’s side effects such as birth defects

Hopefully it works out. The Palace is jumping the gun and already declaring that the pandemic may be over soon because of these vaccine trials.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/10/13/2049208/palace-says-pandemic-may-soon-be-over

Malacañang yesterday expressed optimism that the COVID-19 pandemic would end soon after three groups have expressed interest to conduct vaccine clinical trials in the Philippines.

“Good news: it seems that the pandemic is about to end,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in Filipino.

“According to the Department of Science and Technology, there are three players that submitted requirements to the Food and Drug Administration indicating their interest to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines,” he added.

Does Roque know there is still months to years left in developing the vaccine even with 3rd phase trials commencing? Plus the Philippines has nowhere to store a vaccine.

Problems abound with the new normal schooling at home.  Here's one.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1344942/depeds-modules-stump-even-adults

Just two days after schools opened officially nationwide, Shin struggled with questions in an English subject.

No, it was not college English but Grade 4 English that the 2019 graduate of information technology confronted while assisting his young cousin, Simon, on Tuesday.

Shin’s uncle, the boy’s father, also could not understand the questions on the learning module that all of them were reading on the website of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Shin did not say what the questions were, but they were too difficult even for an adult like him to figure out.

“As a college graduate, even I could not understand the questions in the modules and I don’t think the questions are answerable by young students. If we can’t understand the question, how much more the students?” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Shin and Simon’s parents resorted to answering the questions themselves to meet a 10-minute deadline and two attempts to submit the correct answers.

There was no interaction between the teacher and the student who may want to clarify the questions, he said.

Shin was worried that his cousins might not learn anything this year as the subjects appear not to be taught appropriately through the remote learning system they had experienced.

There was also the problem of logging in to DepEd Commons, the online platform containing lessons that are accessible to parents, students and teachers. In one instance, they had to wait 12 hours just to finish a quiz after the website reached full capacity, Shin said.

Hopefully these problems correct themselves as the school year continues.

There are some who say that COVID-19 is a psy-op designed to get us all to change our behavior. Those people are crazy. Right?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1117931

National Policy against Covid-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., on Thursday said the economic reboot is not causing the spike of the coronavirus cases in the country.

"Nakikita po natin na ang spike ng virus (As we see, the spike of Covid-19) is not because we open the economy, but the consciousness of the people and the lack of safety of the people", Galvez said in a virtual press briefing with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Galvez said there should be a "change of behavior" among the public to further reduce the risks of infection.

He said the most essential part in curbing Covid-19 transmission is making sure that people are aware of the danger posed by the virus.

As a response, Galvez said the government, with the help of the private sector, is conducting massive education drive on self-protection and health safety awareness.

"Once people are aware, they can go out with confidence that will not be infected by the virus," he said, noting that “prevention” is the most vital response that people could always practice. 

"We are informing the public to go out with the caution to always observe the minimum health standards," he added.

Every time I go out I see people wearing face masks and face shields. I have no idea what Galvez is talking about. Is he aware that the minimum health standards such as mask and shields have little to no effectiveness is stopping the spread of the virus?  That is a scientific fact you can read about in the many studies at this link.

Senator Tolentino has come up with a proposal to remedy the Philippines' lack of cold facility storage for a coronavirus vaccine.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/10/10/2048594/doh-pushed-tap-ice-cream-makers-covid-19-vaccine-storage

Sen. Francis Tolentino on Friday proposed that the government look into partnering with ice cream manufacturers in order to address the Philippines' current lack of freezers needed to stock up on the much-awaited coronavirus vaccine. 

"I am offering a policy solution. Why don't you, at this earliest stage, touch base with Magnolia Ice cream, Selecta Ice cream, and all other ice cream manufacturers to utilize their ice cream storage facilities?" Tolentino said during a Senate panel hearing on the Department of Health's proposed P203.74 billion budget for 2021. 

Vaccine storage is a critical component to the massive immunization program promised by President Rodrigo Duterte. A key challenge is finding cold storage facilities big enough to store coronavirus vaccines at temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius to maintain their potency. 

The health department said an inventory of cold storage facilities is underway, but industry officials believe the government would need to build them from scratch.

"The cold chain industry does not have that capability now because there is no existing need for that capability,” Anthony Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines Inc., an industry group, said in a response to e-mailed questions.

Do any of the ice cream manufacturers even have facilities that get to -80 Celsius?

DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño has suggested a great new way to battle COVID-19. Arrest all the beggars!

https://manilastandard.net/news/national/336528/dilg-wants-beggars-out-of-city-streets.html

The Department of Interior and Local Government has directed barangay officials and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to address the increasing number of beggars in the country’s metropolis.

In an online news forum on Sunday, DILG Undersecretary Martin Diño said that beggars should be apprehended to prevent them from possibly spreading the coronavirus.

“The law is the law. The police should apprehend these beggars and bring them to the DSWD because we don’t know if they have already been infected,” Diño.

The DILG official said the numbers of beggars grew after they were joined by locally-stranded individuals, displace jeepney drivers and several others who have lost their jobs because of the ongoing pandemic.

Dino said that barangay officials and the police are duty-bound to apprehended these individuals and bring them to the DSWD to be taken cared of.

The government shutdown the economy causing thousands of people to lose their jobs and the ranks of beggars to grow, particularly from jeepney drivers who were forced to stop driving, and their solution is to round them all up! How brilliant is that? As for  "the law is the law" some are saying the DILG should be going after high profile quarantine violators who keep getting away with violating protocols.

The NCR is looking to ease age restrictions on who can go out during the quarantine.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1346530/from-21-60-to-18-65-ncr-mayors-eyeing-lockdown-age-restriction-adjustment

The Metro Manila Council (MMC) will recommend the adjustment of age restriction on persons allowed to leave their homes amid the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila from the current 21 to 60 years old to 18 to 65 years old.

MMC chairman and Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said Monday that mayors of Metro Manila want to maintain the curfew hours from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. but said they will recommend an adjustment in the age of persons allowed to step out of their residences.

(Based on our last discussion, the consensus was to maintain the curfew of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. But we will have a recommendation on the adjustment of age of restriction on persons allowed to go out.)

(Right now, persons allowed to go out are only those aged 21 to 60. Our recommendation is maybe we can adjust it for those aged 18 to 65.)

Why this recommendation? It will still keep thousands of people inside their homes for no reason except an arbitrarily imposed rule. Better to just nix the whole thing.

A slow internet plus online classes has lead to the death of two men.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1347718/2-brothers-die-from-electrocution-while-installing-internet-device-for-online-class-in-bohol-town

Two brothers died from electrocution while installing an internet device for an online class in Dimiao town at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Police Staff Sergeant Anselmo Nayve, desk officer of the Dimiao Police Station, identified the fatalities as siblings Tristian Dexter Namoco Hamlag, 26; and Christian Val Hamlag, 20—both residents of Barangay Limokon Ilaod, Dimiao.

Tristian, a seaman, helped Christian install an internet device to boost internet connectivity for the younger brother’s online class.

However, the antenna fell and accidentally hit an electric post near their home.

Both died on the spot.

What exactly is this "internet device to boost internet connectivity?" It would not be surprising if more incidents like this happen.

Another man has ridden his bike a very long distance because the pandemic has complicated transportation.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118390

A man from Cavite pedaled for 21 hours amid bad weather to Anda town in Pangasinan province to personally meet his long-distance girlfriend.

 

John Paul ‘JP’ Gatbonton started his journey for a ‘fairy-tale’ and not-your-average chick flick stunt on October 10 from Imus, Cavite with the intent to say “I love you” face-to-face to Donna Ocomen who lives here.

 

JP and Donna met each other some time ago through a Facebook group. He was working in Cavite, while Donna was a second-year Accountancy student then. 

Gatbonton said they both planned to meet each other personally but due to the sudden lockdown brought about by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, it became impossible for him to travel.

 

Travel from Pangasinan to Metro Manila has been banned since the lockdown last March.

 

But that did not stop him from pursuing Ocomen. Gatbonton then began securing the necessary documents for travel, such as barangay and health certificates, and travel authority.

Even in this time of lockdowns long distance love still blooms.