More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The third year of the pandemic has just begun and lockdowns continue to increasing.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/content/819256/areas-under-granular-lockdown-nationwide-jump-to-900-from-700-pnp/story/ |
The number of areas under granular lockdown nationwide due to COVID-19 cases has increased to 900 from 700, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday.
Based on the PNP data as of Sunday, Cagayan, which previously had zero locked down areas, has placed 212 areas under restriction.
At least 330 areas also have been locked down in Cordillera, 233 in Ilocos, 106 in the National Capital Region, and 19 in Mimaropa.
A total of 2,557 people were affected by the granular lockdowns, according to the PNP.
The PNP has deployed 211 personnel and 443 force multipliers to the affected areas to ensure security and adherence to minimum health standards.
Seems kind odd that there are only 900 areas under lockdown affecting only 2,557 individuals when there are allegedly 280,000 active cases according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
The Philippine Statistic Authority says COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death nationwide last year.
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| https://www.rappler.com/business/philippine-statistics-authority-report-covid-19-deaths-january-october-2021/ |
COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death in the Philippines, based on preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). But figures show a discrepancy between those written on death certificates and those reported by the Department of Health (DOH).
PSA figures showed a total of 75,285 deaths were due to COVID-19 from January to October 2021, representing 12.5% of the total registered deaths during the period.
For 2020, the PSA registered 27,967 deaths due to the coronavirus or 4.9% of the total registered deaths during the entire year.
That would mean at least 103,252 pandemic-related deaths, based on PSA data.
The figure differs compared to that of the DOH, which has recorded 52,929 pandemic-related deaths as of Monday, January 17.
The PSA noted the discrepancy, explaining that its figures were obtained from descriptions written on death certificates. The DOH figures were obtained through a surveillance system.
PSA figures also refer to confirmed, probable, and clinically-epidemiologically diagnosed cases of COVID-19.
Deaths categorized as “COVID-19 virus identified” totaled 51,514, while “COVID-19 with virus not identified” cases accounted for 23,771 deaths from January to October 2021.
The total number of COVID deaths recorded by the PSA is twice that recorded by the DOH. How are we supposed to trust any of these statistics when they differ from agency to agency? The collection method is not even the same. The PSA is including "probable" deaths in its total number of deaths which is completely dishonest. That's at least 23,771 deaths that should not be a part of this total because COVID has not been verified in the person's death.
So, how is the "no vax, no ride" policy going? Not good for some folks. According to Labor Secretary Bello one woman was refused a ride because she had only one shot.
(I saw the woman yesterday crying because she was not allowed to ride public transport since she only received one vaccine dose. Our implementers must have been so enthusiastic in protecting the public that they forgot that workers are exempted.)
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1542656/simple-trip-turns-tearful-for-unvaxxed-commuter |
Seems there is confusion amongst the drivers of what kind of documentation is acceptable and who is exempt from the policy. Since he would be liable and fined its no wonder he hesitated over her papers. But it also seems that the policy is not being equally enforced since on the six jeepenies she rode no one asked to see her papers.Jeremy Pineda, 27 and unvaccinated against COVID-19, headed out on Tuesday morning to get her unified multipurpose identification card.
Pineda prepared for the Department of Transportation’s mandatory “no vaccinations, no rides” policy by bringing along a copy of her medical records, including a document showing that she needed to undergo medical tests, and a copy of a news report indicating that people like her are exempt from the policy.
“I brought even my previous medical records from my previous doctor, just to be sure that I have the necessary documents to present [to an enforcer],” she told the Inquirer by phone.
Pineda boarded a UV Express from Barangay Bagong Ilog in Pasig City, where she lives, to get to Robinsons Galleria on Ortigas Avenue—by her estimate, a 15-minute ride. The vehicle driver asked for her vaccination card.
When Pineda presented her medical records, which she believed would be enough to allow her to ride a public utility vehicle (PUV), the driver said it was up to her to answer for him if he got caught.
“I showed my medical certificate proving that I have an existing illness, but the driver told me that it won’t be accepted [by enforcers],” she said.
Seated in the vehicle filled with fully vaccinated passengers, Pineda decided to disembark, embarrassed by the driver’s remarks. But she said she understood the driver, who apologized to her and said he was merely complying with the policy.
Pineda said she wanted to walk to Galleria so she could get the ID needed for her medical transactions there. But she was “just too emotional” and began to cry.
Still, she decided to push through with her other plan for the day: a meeting with her doctor at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). She took the first jeepney from Pasig headed to Quiapo, Manila. On Legarda, she rode a second jeepney going to Divisoria.
She got on a third jeepney on Rizal Avenue that went straight to Taft Avenue and PGH.
Pineda rode a total of six jeepneys for her round trip, but none of the drivers asked for her vaccination card or her medical papers. She said there were no enforcers during all that time and observed that they were “more focused” on UV Express rides.
“The jeepneys were far more relaxed, from what I saw,” she said.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged local government units (LGUs) in other parts of the country to copy what the National Capital Region (NCR) did and also implement policies to restrict the movement of unvaccinated persons.
In a statement on Thursday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año supported the call of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) and the regional pandemic task forces in encouraging LGUs to implement similar policies.
“Let us all move in one pace so that we can collectively surmount the threat of Omicron,” he said, referring to the coronavirus variant that is being blamed for the current surge in COVID-19 cases.
During a Laging Handa public briefing on Jan. 15, LPP national president and Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco Jr. said local chief executives instructed their city and municipal councils to impose restrictions on their unvaccinated constituents.
Velasco, a former Supreme Court associate justice, explained that while Filipinos have the constitutional right to travel or freedom of movement, there were exceptions to uphold public health or public safety.
The DILG chief said his directive was “neither unconstitutional nor violative of a person’s right to privacy because the data of unvaccinated persons is being collected for a legitimate purpose and that is to address the latest wave of COVID-19 infection.”
Año assured the Commission on Human Rights that the list would not be published or made public.
He said the information “is needed by the State to properly implement quarantine protocols needed to protect the unvaccinated as well as to protect the health system from being overwhelmed.”
There is still no law making mandatory vaccination enforceable. Republic Act No. 11525, or the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act, states that vaccination shall not be considered as an additional mandatory requirement for educational or employment purposes or conducting transactions with government.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166140 |
The pandemic-driven surge in online merchandise sales is generating a huge volume of new plastic waste every day, mainly from the widespread use of “bubble wraps” to package goods ordered by consumers, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said on Sunday.
“If you make an online purchase today, chances are you will receive the item that you ordered in a packet or carton draped in throwaway plastic bubble wrap,” Campos said.
“The problem with these elastic wraps with air-filled cushions is that they cannot be reused. Once they are ripped to open a package, the wraps get trashed and add to all the plastic waste escaping into our water environment,” Campos said.
He said Laguna Lake, the Pasig River, Manila Bay, and the country’s coastal waters are bound to be swamped with tons of discarded plastic bubble wraps.
“Online shopping destinations should ask their logistics partners to reduce their use of bubble wraps, and to consider alternative packaging materials that are either reusable or easier to recycle,” Campos said.
Campos is among the authors of House Bill 9147, which calls for the phaseout of all plastic products designed to be disposed, destroyed, or recycled, after only one use.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166223 |
What exactly is the criteria for the national vaccination program to be considered a success? Is it when everyone is vaccinated? Or is it when there is zero COVID? Because neither one of those things will happen. Some simply don't want to be injected with an experimental serum which neither protects from transmission or infection of the virus. Zero COVID is not at all a realistic goal.The national vaccination drive aims to protect the public from Covid-19 and creating hindrances against the pandemic response will not help any.
On Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III asked individuals or groups not to influence Filipinos against getting vaccinated.
He cited the viral videos of those against the “no vaccination, no ride’’ policy, with most saying they cannot be forced to be inoculated because they do not believe the jabs will benefit them.
“(Let’s not come up with any hindrance for the national vaccination program not to succeed),” Duque said during the Laging Handa briefing.
Since January 17, only fully vaccinated individuals are allowed to take public transportation in the National Capital Region (NCR) as per the Department of Transportation order.
Duque added that the policy has exemptions, like those purchasing essential goods and medicines, paying bills, going to work, or those with comorbidities as advised by doctors.
He emphasized that vaccination benefits everyone, especially senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
“(Since the government purchased these [Covid-19 vaccines] with the taxes it has collected, let us support [the national vaccination drive] so every person will have enough protection and our lives will go back to normal),” Duque said.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166331 |
Majority of the patients tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in this city since January 2 are either asymptomatic or mildly ill, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said Tuesday.
Dr. Carol Cajegas, a data analyst of the EOC, said during the Covid Task Force convergence meeting through Zoom that the data showed the difference between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated residents.
Cajegas reported that 2,800 of about 7,000 individuals who contracted the virus have not felt any indications of sickness while close to 4,000 people reported mild symptoms.
She said that most of those asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients were isolated at home, rendering most of the barangay patient care centers and other temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) in the city vacant.
“It’s clear what a vaccine can do against Covid. But we should not be negligent,” Cajegas said.
The chief pathologist of the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, supported the view that vaccinated individuals have relished the benefits of the vaccines as she also observed that most of the asymptomatic and mildly-ill Covid-19 patients are vaccinated.
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