More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Face to face classes are about to start back up and it seems there is no national protocol on the whether or not students and teachers must be vaccinated.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/456734/unvaxxed-teachers-can-still-teach-face-to-face-says-deped-7 |
There will be no discrimination among vaccinated and unvaccinated teachers who want to teach in a face-to-face setup, the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) assures.
Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, director of DepEd-7, said teachers who have yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccines can still return to the traditional style of teaching this August 22, 2022.
The same goes for non-teaching personnel in schools such as the administrative staff, said Jimenez.
“We will not force them, (sic) this is not compulsory)… Even for non-teachers and staff, it’s not compulsory. We’re not demanding them,” said Jimenez.
According to the DepEd-7 director, Vice President and Education Sec. Sara Duterte-Carpio emphasized to them that teachers should only be encouraged, and not forced, to take the COVID-19 vaccination.
“According to VP-Secretary Sara nga we keep on having a counseling para for them to reconsider (in taking the vaccines),” Jimenez said.
“Og mahimo kada adlawon og counsel ang mga teacher who are unvaccinated… Kay we do not know, might be ang parents na maoy moreklamo ngano ni ang teacher patudloan nga unvaccinated,” he added.
As precautionary measures, unvaccinated teachers will have to undergo rapid antigen COVID-19 tests before they can start their classes.
In Cebu province, these test kits will be provided to the teachers for free.
In Cebu teachers will not be forced to get vaccinated per orders of DepEd Secretary Duterte. In La Paz it's a different story.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180689 |
Only fully vaccinated teachers and students can participate in the face-to-face classes starting August 22 in the Agusan del Sur town of La Paz.This was contained in the July 25 executive order of La Paz Mayor Michael Lim which was posted on the town’s official Facebook account on Friday.In his EO, Lim underscored the importance of protecting the children and the town's residents from the continuing threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).“Government agencies and local government units are enjoined to undertake critical and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the Covid-19 pandemic threat,” Lim said.The executive order was issued in consultation with the Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force, of which the Department of Education a member, and the approval of the 15 barangay chairpersons of La Paz.Unvaccinated students and pupils in the town may continue their studies through the modular learning system, the EO said.It added that only those fully or partially vaccinated students may attend graduation rites while those who are not vaccinated may join through virtual setup.
In Cebu Province the authority of Sara Duterte is being cited to allow unvaccinated teachers to attend classes while in Butuan they are setting their own policy. Perhaps this will be challenged and overturned.
The president has also issued a confusing statement regarding students needing boosters.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/06/22/marcos-get-covid-19-booster-shot-before-in-person-classes |
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday urged Filipinos to prepare for the resumption of face-to-face classes later this month, particularly by availing of booster shots against COVID-19.
In his weekly vlog, Marcos said that the public needs to be adequately protected against COVID-19 before the expected influx of students to schools.
"The first thing is to make sure that everyone has had a booster shot, especially our young people, to make sure their bodies are ready to go back to school," Marcos said.
"It won't be that simple, but if the preparation is right, it will definitely be successful," he said.
The President did not clarify if this would mean that being vaccinated against COVID-19 would be a requirement for student who wish to go back to school, but the Department of Education earlier said that it would not discriminate against learners who refuse to avail of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Is it really that hard to have one protocol for the entire nation?
The DOH is planning on turning schools into vaccination centers.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1641878/health-dept-readies-covid-jabs-for-use-in-schools |
The Department of Health (DOH) is set to identify the public schools that will turn into jabbing sites in a bid to ramp up inoculation and make vaccines more accessible to children and teens who have yet to complete their primary series or get boosted against COVID-19.
In a media forum on Friday, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said health officials would sit down with local governments to draw up strategies on the planned school-based vaccination in preparation for the start of in-person classes on August 22.
This, she noted, was the only request of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte so as not to delay the resumption of in-person classes in some schools this month.
“I was able to speak with the Vice President during the Cabinet meeting a while ago and she asked how to strategize the vaccination in schools once we open them up,” Vergeire said.
“Her only request was for the classes not to be delayed or hampered. So what we will do is talk to local governments to fix the vaccination schedules of the different schools in the country,” she added.
Vergeire said the DOH was also working with the Department of Education (DepEd) to draft the screening protocols for the safe return to schools of children as well as the teaching and non-teaching personnel.
Aside from the strict enforcement of minimum public health standards, “safety officers” should be designated in every school as “health screening” would be the most important component in ensuring the safety of students and teachers.
“We will appoint safety officers in schools for screening of students and [school] personnel. This is being finalized together with DepEd,” said the health undersecretary.
What will they be screening students for? Vaccination status? There are a lot of mixed messages from the DOH, DepEd, and The Palace.
If only the people cooperated and got vaccinated and boosted the pandemic would totally end.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180649 |
The Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) said the cooperation from the people of Abra contributed to the province's high coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination rate and the low cases of dengue.
“Dahil sa cooperation ng mga tao kaya performing well ang local government units in terms of prevention of diseases (The cooperation of the people allows the local government units to perform well in terms of diseases),” Dr. Rio Magpantay, DOH-CAR regional director, said on Thursday.
According to the DOH-CAR regional vaccination operations center (RVOC), Abra has a 117.97-percent accomplishment rate after having fully vaccinated 176,360 people against Covid-19. The region has a 94.73-percent accomplishment rate.
Compare that to the warning given to Davaeños about increasing COVID cases.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180620 |
The Davao City Covid-19 Task Force reminded residents anew to follow the minimum public health standards (MPHS) amid the city's increasing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) positivity rate.In a radio interview Thursday, Dr. Michelle Schlosser, the task force spokesperson, said the positivity rate of 8.3 percent of Covid-19 from July 24 to 31 remains “very high and Dabawenyos should not be complacent.”Schlosser encouraged the public to continue wearing face masks and observe proper hand hygiene. Establishments and offices are also reminded by the task force to strictly implement MPHS in their respective areas.“Before, we usually had one to 1.5 percent then it increased to three percent and reached five percent, which is the acceptable positivity rate. More than that, that's not acceptable anymore,” Schlosser pointed out.She said there should be no room for leniency in implementing the wearing of face masks and hand hygiene.“To all mall goers, please observe MPHS. Wear your face masks. Imagine sitting or talking with someone inside the mall you never know is already infected,” Schlosser warned.As of July 31, the city logged 369 active Covid-19 cases – 216 of which are asymptomatic; 140, mild; 10, moderate; two, severe; and one, critical.
It's a catch-22. The public is blamed when cases go up and applauded when cases go down. What are we supposed to do? How does this make sense? It's a virus that we have to learn to live with and which, as shown from these stats given by Davao, is hardly deadly.
Even weirder Davao wants residents to avail of "free surveillance swabbing" if they get the sniffles.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180889 |
As cases surge, the local government called on Dabawenyos anew to avail of the free surveillance swabbing for those manifesting influenza-like symptoms and close contacts of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) positive patients.Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, noted Thursday that active Covid-19 cases increased between July 31 and August 6 by about 38 percent, with an average daily positivity rate of 10.67 percent.Of the 510 active cases, 294 are asymptomatic cases, 199 are mild, 13 are moderate, two are severe, and two are critical, she said.Dabawenyos must submit themselves to surveillance swabbing if they are experiencing cough, colds, fever, diarrhea, or sore throat to help break the chain of infection, Schlosser said.
As ever the majority of cases are asymptomatic. And no doubt the death rate is low too. If only they were as fanatical about stopping the spread of dengue.
Here's another catch-22. Cebu City Mayor Michale Rama had to isolate due to COVID-19 and people were calling him out for not being around during the floods.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/457412/i-was-in-isolation-rama-on-criticisms-over-city-officials-absence-in-recent-floodings |
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has responded to criticisms and complaints hurled against him, and several City Hall officials, as to why they were not ‘physically present’ when the city suffered its ‘worst flooding since Typhoon Odette’.
Rama denied allegations that he ‘neglected his duties’ in responding to the floods that occurred between August 3 to August 5.
Instead, he said he ‘was working from home’ as he was still in isolation at that time due to COVID-19.
(Number one, how can Mike Rama visit these places when he still has COVID.)
Now, that he is permitted to go out, the mayor promised that he would be visiting the areas where clearing operations on the city’s easement zones had been conducted.
Rama said that he planned to personally meet the families displaced by the ongoing clearing operations, particularly those formerly residing on the banks of Kinalumsan River, and assess their conditions.
These people are damned if they do and damned if they don't. No about Rama was vaccinated and boosted.
COVID-19 restrictions on social distancing have practically stopped all sports training. Senator Zubiri wants to change that.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180856 |
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday said he will look into the current protocols on training in boxing and other contact sports to help the country produce more champions.
In a statement, Zubiri said one possible reason why the country has just one world boxing champion for now is limited training time for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Currently, Alert Level 1 areas already allow contact sports’ training in enclosed spaces for adults who are fully vaccinated.
“It's about time that contact sports resume their trainings,” Zubiri said.
If they keep those protocols then only vaccinated people will be allowed to train which would vaccines mandatory for athletes.
The definition of fully vaccinated could change soon to include receiving a booster.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/10/22/doh-revives-push-to-redefine-fully-vaccinated
The Department of Health is reviving its push to redefine the term "fully vaccinated" by including a booster shot against COVID-19.
According to DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, the agency is concerned with the low uptake of booster shots and waning immunity as cases of omicron subvariants increase.
"We are now again proposing to the Office of the President that our fully vaccinated definition be refined, that we will now include the first booster shot," she told ANC's "Headstart" on Wednesday.
The DOH made a similar proposal to the previous administration but the plan was postponed to prioritize the reopening of the country's economy.
In surveys conducted by the agency, it found out that Filipinos have not only gotten hesitant in getting the additional jab, they have become complacent, too.
"They are already confident with their first 2 doses and that because there are not much severe and critical [cases], so they say that enough na 'yung 2 doses nila," Vergeire said.
Another reason cited by respondents was that booster shots are not required in offices or schools, she added.
That is one way to get everyone to take the booster shot but on what scientific basis does it stand when even with a booster you can still get infected and the efficacy wanes?
The DOH is predicting cases will continue to surge will into Christmas.
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/09/rise-in-covid-19-cases-until-december-possible-doh/
The Department of Health (DOH) said there is a possibility that Covid-19 cases in the Philippines may continue to rise until December.
"It is possible that the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in our country will continue even through this October, November, and December," said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Metro Manila may see more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases by October, said Vergeire, citing the recent projection of the Australian Tuberculosis Modeling Network (Autumn).
"We have Autumn projections. Our Autumn projections, we can have as high as 10,612 cases of Covid-19 right here in the National Capital Region by the first week of October," she said.
Vergeire said that these projections were based on various assumptions such as low booster shot coverage, low compliance in minimum public health standards, mobility of people, and entry of Covid-19 virus variants.
"But of course, these are projections. These are projections based on assumptions,” she said.
"These projections may happen, but hopefully not because we have control over two of these assumptions and that would be the uptake of boosters and compliance to minimum public health standards," she said.
These projections are based on assumptions. There you go. It's all made up and it's based on the actions of the public in regards to boosters and following "minimum public health standards." Never mind the nature the virus or how it is spread. The public will always be to blame.
