More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The government has not been shy about blaming the public for not following health protocols as being the cause of the spike in COVID-19 cases. But a new study shows half of those infected have one of the variants which are more infectious.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/06/21/nearly-half-of-covid-19-samples-from-metro-manila-linked-to-foreign-variants-expert |
Nearly half of sequenced COVID-19 samples from Metro Manila are foreign variants of the virus, a member of the Philippines' vaccine expert panel said Thursday.
Between January 4 and May 2, the Philippines has sequenced 7,167 samples nationwide, but has yet to disclose the recent number of samples taken from Metro Manila, according to data from the Department of Health (DOH).
"Since these are only representative samples... it will just tell you that it is present in NCR (National Capital Region), said Dr. Rontgene Solante, who is also the head of San Lazaro Hospital's Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine.
"It does not mean that it is causing community transmission," he said in an online press conference.
It would "really take time" before the Philippines could say if the new variants, which are about 50 percent more transmissible, are already the dominant strains of COVID-19 in the country, he said.
(Our sampling is really very low... We need to get those data so that we can have a more objective way of telling people which variants have been detected.)
The Department of the Interior and Local Government will confer with the Philippine National Police and local government units to adjust ordinances to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to arrest those wearing face mask improperly.
DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in an interview with ANC’s "Headstart" that they will sit with PNP leadership and LGUs "to determine the parameters of the presidential directive."
"We will have to reconcile this also with the various ordinances that were issued by different LGUs," he added.
In a recorded address aired on Wednesday night, Duterte ordered police to arrest those not wearing face masks properly in public and detain them for nine hours.
“My orders to the police are those who are not wearing their masks properly in order to protect the public—because if not, if you cannot defend the public—to arrest them and detain them, investigate why they are doing it. They have nine hours,” he said.
Malaya explained that LGUs have different ordinances and sanctions on directives issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the policy-making body during the pandemic.
LGUs imposed warnings or fines, and arrests are only allowed when there is resistance to authorities, added the DILG official.
But Malaya acknowledged that in implementing Duterte’s order, the DILG must also account for detention spaces.
“If we do make arrests, we would also need to prepare our detention cells because there may be a larger number of people detained than before,” he added.
Not only is this order against commonsense and completely draconian but it does not take into account the lack of space in which to detain people. It also contradicts the decision of the DOJ to not arrest violators but give them community service.
Strangely enough new PNP Chief Eleazar says no violators will be given harsh penalties despite arrest itself being a harsh penalty.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/786775/no-harsh-penalty-vs-face-mask-policy-violators-eleazar/story/ |
Police officers will not enforce harsh penalties for violation of the face mask policy, the country's new top cop Police General Guillermo Eleazar said Sunday.
Eleazar said they will bring violators to a holding area and enforce local ordinances on the mandatory wearing of face mask, such as community service or imposing fines.
[Officials have no right to impose punishment. They will apprehend but won't hurt or punish. Violators will just be placed in a holding area.]
Already they are preparing detention facilities for those they apprehend. PNP officers have been ordered to "observe maximum tolerance in arresting violators" but the PNP does not have a good track record in such a thing as tolerance.
Right now it is only face masks which are mandatory in public across the nation. One town has recently made face shields mandatory in public as well.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1139621 |
The city government has amended its ordinance requiring the mandatory wearing not only of face masks but face shields outside their homes.
Aileen Refuerzo, Public Information Office chief, on Saturday said the city’s legislative body approved on final reading Ordinance No. 49, series of 2021, which amended Ordinance No. 45-2020 or the Face Mask Ordinance of Baguio City by incorporating the face shield requirement.
“The city government will enforce the Face Mask and Face Shield Ordinance of 2021 following completion of its amendment process,” Refuerzo said on Saturday.
The measure, she added, declares that it is “unlawful” for all persons including tourists and outsiders to go to public places, buildings, national roads, or highway, sidewalks, walkways, or public conveyances or other similar establishments, without wearing face mask and face shield until the threat of the Covid-19 is completely eliminated in the country.
The penalty for non-wearing of face mask is PHP1,000, PHP2,000, and PHP3,000 for the first to third offense, respectively and cancellation of business permit if applicable.
The penalties for non-wearing of face shield and indiscriminate disposal of used or damaged face masks and face shields are PHP500, PHP1,000, and PHP2,000 for first to third offense, respectively, and cancellation of business permit if applicable.
How necessary and ridiculous. Let us hope such a scheme does not become the law of the land.
Feeling hopeless during this pandemic? Just look to this cross if you live in the area where it has been erected.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1429051/piats-giant-cross-in-the-sky-lights-up-to-bring-hope-amid-pandemic |
A 16-meter-tall cross perched on the 50-meter-high Black Hill was ceremonially lit on Friday night (May 7) to serve as a symbol of faith, hope, and love for residents of Piat who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Called the “Cross in the Sky,” it stands at the People’s Integrated Agritourism Center. The local government of Piat allocated P1.5-million for its construction.
“The cross brings the message that we can surpass all problems including the pandemic if we have Jesus as our center of life,” said Mayor Carmelo Villacete on Saturday (May 8).
Villacete said the Piat Basilica Minore church and surrounding villages have been locked down following the death of a church organist, as well as the infection of two doctors and 11 other health workers.
Located near Piat’s black lagoon, the giant cross is expected to lure tourists once travel restrictions are lifted, according to tourism officer Benedict Santo Tomas. He said the Piat municipal government will strictly enforce all health protocols when that happens.
They hope to turn this cross into a tourist destination but there is no way that will happen soon. When the pandemic is over it will only be a reminder of all the excess waste of money spent on things like this. Speaking of waste the government wants to set up a temporary mega vaccination center in an urban forest.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1429129/green-concerns-raised-vs-planned-mega-jab-center |
Environment and heritage advocates are opposing a plan by the government to put up a “megavaccination center” in an urban forest, saying the short-term use of the property of the Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) will result in long-term ecological damage.
Lucille Karen Malilong-Isberto, the NPF executive director, resigned on Thursday due to a conflict with Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat over the project that would require chopping down about 500 trees at the NPF’s property in Entertainment City, the reclaimed area in Parañaque City known for its casinos.
The heritage group Dakilang Pamana ng Lahi (Pamanlahi) said the proposed vaccination site would endanger the “park’s growing ecosystem” and “urban wildlife” as the site is close to the Las Piñas-Parañaque critical habitat and protected wetland and is home to about 25 bird species.
“The green and fresh environment that is open and free, a large public space that is much-needed by the people of Metro Manila, will be destroyed and will disappear,” the group said in a statement on Thursday.
The NPF, a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Tourism (DOT), also expressed the same concerns.
The NPF promotes cultural heritage and Filipino identity “hinged on diversity,” according to its website. It spearheads and develops “hubs, spaces, activities, green infrastructure projects, and research and knowledge production initiatives that utilize innovation and creative potential as catalysts for national development.”
It's not as if the government has ever thought ahead about much. They pretty much do everything short term.
Did you know that there are no FDA approved vaccines to prevent COVID-19? That's right. All the vaccines in use are merely authorized under emergency use orders. The latest vaccine to get that treatment is Sinopharm but by the WHO and not the FDA. Perhaps there Sinopharm will be arriving en masse soon. The Philippines has imported millions of vaccines and now they are number 2 in SEA for the number of jabs given.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1139805 |
The vaccination rollout gains full steam as the Philippines is now second among Southeast Asian nations with the most number of coronavirus vaccines administered.
In a report by National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., data show that as of May 10, the country has administered a total of 2,409,235 vaccine shots, more than two months after it started its vaccination campaign.
The seven-day average of doses administered is 65,879.
It is next to Indonesia with 21,993,299 doses administered since its rollout began on Jan. 13; Cambodia at third with 2,284,788 since Feb. 28.
Worldwide, the Philippines ranked 41st out of 194 and 15th out of 47 countries in Asia.
The government appears to meeting its goals which is good. The mayor of Makati, Abigail Binay, says her city now has more vaccines than vaccinees. She says it is a "beautiful problem."
While the Philippines has enough vaccines apparently it does not have enough propaganda.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1430419/step-up-covid-19-info-drive-communicate-pain-of-disease-pcoo-told |
Ang Probinsyano Partylist Rep. Ronnie Ong said the PCOO should maximize the potential of its various information dissemination assets such as the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Philippine News Agency (PNA), and Philippine Broadcasting Network (PBN) to increase people’s awareness of COVID-19.
One possible way to dissuade people from violating the basic health and safety protocols, Ong said, is to come up with visual materials that make people realize that COVID-19 “is not just a killer but is also a very painful disease.”
“Some people I know who lived to tell their ordeal told me the indescribable pain that they had to suffer. They can feel their lungs collapsing as they try to struggle to breathe. Parang meron daw truck na nakadagan sa dibdib mo sa sobrang sakit,” Ong said in a statement.
“We have to share these stories in a manner that people will have a self-realization that taking the risk for non-essential activities like going to pool parties or biking on big pelotons could put you or your loved ones in extreme pain and even death,” he added.
The government, Ong said, “needs to let our people visualize and experience the pain of being sick with COVID” through various information materials such as boosted social media optics, leaflets, flyers, and television and radio infomercials that will not just provide the public faceless and nameless statistics but a graphic warning of the “horrific ordeal one has to go through because of COVID.”
“It’s really hard to understand how people could still act like there’s no virus when we have already reached the one million mark in terms of death,” Ong said.
