More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Despite the continuing lockdowns and threats from the president to arrest those who do not get vaccinated it would appear that the Philippines is practically in the clear when it comes to the virus.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/07/01/2109487/philippines-now-low-risk-area-covid-19-doh |
The Philippines is now a “low-risk” area after the growth rate of the virus and the average daily attack rate declined, the Department of Health said Thursday.
Dr. Alethea De Guzman, the officer in charge of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, said the country recorded a -9% growth rate in cases over the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, the average daily attack rate (ADAR) was at 5.42, lower than the 5.96 reported three to four weeks ago. ADAR is the number of cases in an area over a two-week period, divided by the population there.
“The risk classification nationally is already at low risk,” De Guzman said.
But instead of ending all the nonsense the government will likely say this is a reason to continue it.
The Bayanihan 2 funds have now lapsed leaving many programs unfunded.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1453777/bayanihan-2-lapses-leaving-many-covid-programs-unfunded |
The Bayanihan 2 law lapsed on Wednesday with P18.4 billion in allocations remaining unspent, leaving a number of critical pandemic response programs unfunded, including P6.6 billion for laboratory testing service and hiring of health workers, P4.6 billion for digital learning resources and student subsidies, and P4.6 billion for service contracts for public transport workers.
“These unobligated funds will revert to the treasury and will be unavailable for spending,” Sen. Francis Pangilinan said in a Viber message to the Inquirer.
Also among those affected were public hospital employees under the umbrella group Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), who were dismayed that the government acted too slow, resulting in a failure to release their P3,000 monthly COVID-19 hazard pay on time.
Without a new law those funds are gone forever. So much for the lack of corruption and the dedication of the government to fight the virus. The official government response is that red tape is to blame.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1454392/p-169-b-covid-funds-unspent-due-to-red-tape |
Bureaucratic red tape—those unnecessary paperwork, documents and procedures that take time—has prevented the government from spending billions of pesos to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of June 25, some P168.7 billion in approved COVID-related funds have remained unused by various state agencies, according to documents released on Thursday by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
This was despite the existence of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta), created through Republic Act No. 11032, commonly referred to as the ease of doing business law, to bring about a more efficient and transparent delivery of government services. One weakness with Arta is that government agencies can simply take note of the agency’s findings and recommendations. It is all up to the government departments to comply or not.
The Department of Health (DOH), the lead agency in the fight against COVID-19, accounted for the bulk of the unspent funds.
Of the P157.4 billion in allotment releases to the DOH across the Bayanihan 1 and 2 laws plus the 2021 budget, only P51.4 billion had been spent so far, DBM documents showed.
Interesting that the DOH accounts for the bulk of unspent funds because DOH Secretary Duque swears his department is not corrupt. That is despite having admitted it is corrupt! There is also a whole organization set up to cut through that red tape but it seems its existence did not make a difference in this case.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday encouraged the public to ask COVID-19 vaccinators to show them the syringe after inoculation to ensure that they were vaccinated properly.
In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Duque said the public can take pictures of their syringe after vaccination as a “simple” and “practical” solution to concerns over improper inoculation.
At least three videos have shown that some vaccinators fail to push the plunger after injecting the needle into vaccine recipients, leaving the substance inside the syringe.
(Sometimes people are scared to look when they’re getting vaccinated, but they can tell the vaccinator, “When it’s over, can you show me the syringe so I can take a picture?”)
(Let’s include that in the system. That’s not hard to do and you’ll also have evidence to show when someone asks you, “Have you been vaccinated?”)
A nurse of the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) in Tondo, Manila will face charges, along with two others, after they were caught selling coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators workers in Quezon City on Wednesday.
The city government of Manila, however, clarified that the vaccines did not come from its stockpile.
“Vaccines that are allegedly being sold are not sourced from the supply of the Manila Health Department. These Covid-19 vaccines are highly regulated and highly controlled by the LGU (local government unit),” Manila Public Information Officer Jules Leonen said in a statement issued on Friday.
Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has ordered GABMMC Director Dr. Teodoro Martin to immediately conduct administrative proceedings and file appropriate charges against Alexis Francisco de Guzman, who holds a Nurse III position.
The National Bureau of Investigation also arrested Kour Singh and Calvin Roca with 300 doses of Sinovac jabs placed in an icebox.
De Guzman was never a part of a vaccination team, has never been involved in the handling of Covid-19 jabs, and has never transacted with the hospital’s Pharmacy Section regarding the transport or custody of vaccines, according to Martin.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/07/06/2110472/cops-lookout-fake-vaccination-cards |
Police have been ordered to be alert against the possible use of fake vaccination cards now that the government has eased rules in allowing interzonal travel for fully vaccinated people, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who earlier headed the government’s implementation of travel requirements nationwide as chief of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said police were bracing for fake vaccine cards, noting how people had been able to fake RT-PCR tests in the past.
“If the results of RT-PCR tests can be faked, it’s not completely impossible for illicit people to also use fake vaccination documents. We won’t let this happen,” Eleazar said, referring to the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test to determine if a person has the coronavirus.
“I am directing all police offices and units to be vigilant against those travelers who might use fake documents to prove that they are fully vaccinated,” Eleazar said, reminding travelers to continue observing minimum public health standards.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/07/04/2110134/covid-19-vaccine-cards-count-alternative-testing-requirement-travel |
For interzonal travel, the inter-agency task force said a COVID-19 domestic vaccination card or a certificate of quarantine completion would count as alternatives to a testing requirement which local governments can require.However not everyone is on board with this protocol as of yet."This interzonal travel shall likewise apply to fully vaccinated senior citizens," the IATF said. "Also, the traveler needs to undergo health and exposure screening upon arrival in the local government of destination."
Interzonal travel is moving through areas under different quarantine status.
The Duterte administration on Sunday said it has finalized protocols for Filipinos who are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
From figures by end of June, that would mean the newly approved policy would apply to 7.53 million individuals who have since completed their two doses.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/794202/league-of-provinces-wary-of-removing-covid-19-test-as-travel-requirement/story/ |
What are they hesitant of? This is practically an admission that the vaccine does not work.The League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) on Tuesday expressed hesitance in allowing the entry of fully vaccinated travelers to different places even without a negative COVID-19 test result.Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr., LPP president, pointed out that getting vaccinated does not guarantee a 100% protection from the disease.
(The local chief executives especially in the LPP are hesitant. There is a big hesitance if the requirement of RT-PCR or antigen test prior to arrival will be removed.)
A recent resolution by the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allows full vaccination as an alternative to testing.
under IATF-EID Resolution No. 124-5, fully vaccinated people will only need to present their vaccination card for interzonal travel as well as for intrazonal movement.
Velasco said conducting only health and exposure screening on fully vaccinated travelers may lapse in identifying an asymptomatic COVID-19 patient.
He suggested to the IATF to let the local government units have the discretion whether they will require COVID-19 tests.
(We are requesting the IATF to give the LGU an option if they would require the submission of a certificate of RT-PCR test or antigen test for arrival.)
As COVID-19 cases reach more than 100 million worldwide with nearly 4 million deaths, countries have been struggling to vaccinate their population hoping to stop SARS Cov2, the virus that causes the disease, and its variants from further wreaking havoc.
But what if the collective effort to vaccinate and implement preventive measures were not enough to make the virus disappear?
Recent research and studies suggested that SARS Cov2, once thought to linger for only weeks or months at the pandemic’s onset, may be with us for good.
The possibility is not remote for the SARS Cov2 to become a “forever virus”, according to experts, and this could rearrange the way the Philippines and other countries respond.
At one of his recent public addresses with his Cabinet, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cited Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III about the possibility that SARS Cov2 could become “endemic,” or of regular occurrence.
It was not clear where Duterte’s theory, supposedly coming from Dominguez, came from but experts studying the virus have suggested that it was not impossible.
“Rather than die out, the virus will likely ping-pong back and forth across the globe for years to come,” said American epidemiologist Larry Brilliant in the report. Many other health experts shared Brilliant’s view.
As early as May 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) emergencies director Dr. Mike Ryan had already warned that the virus might never disappear.
“It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away,” Ryan said at an online press conference that time.
While the probability of SARS Cov2 COV-2 becoming endemic sounds terrifying, Nature clarified that the failure to get rid of the virus does not necessarily mean more deaths, severe cases and longer social isolation.
“The future will depend heavily on the type of immunity people acquire through infection or vaccination and how the virus evolves,” wrote Nicky Phillips, Asia-Pacific bureau chief for Nature News.
“Influenza and the four human coronaviruses that cause common colds are also endemic,” Phillips said.
Evolutionary biologist Jesse Bloom said that the current coronavirus might, later on, turn into a flu virus.
“I do think SARS Cov2 will become a less serious problem and something like flu,” he told Nature News.
If SARS Cov2 becomes endemic, the Philippines’ pandemic response was likely to continue but focusing on strategies on how people could live with the virus.
No comments:
Post a Comment