More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
It's not enough that face masks are required to be worn when one is out and about but now face shields will be required to be worn by all who ride public transportation.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1317393/face-shields-a-must-for-commuters |
Starting Aug. 15, all commuters across the country will be required to wear face shields, over the mandatory mask, as an additional layer of protection against coronavirus infection, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Wednesday.
In Metro Manila and other areas currently under modified enhanced community quarantine, the new requirement takes effect once public transportation is allowed to operate again after Aug. 18.
The DOTr issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-14, requiring all land, sea and air travelers to wear face shields.
In a statement, the DOTr said the new requirement was intended to further reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission on public transit. It quoted “health authorities” as saying “the use of face shields and masks reduces exposure to and emission of respiratory droplets considerably.”
The department is specific about the kind of face shield it wants travelers to wear: at the minimum, they must wear visors or full-face shields that cover the nose and mouth.
Otherwise, they will not be allowed to board, according to Transport Undersecretary for Administrative Affairs Artemio Tuazon.
“We advise [commuters to] use the ones that cover the whole face. It’s actually meant as a redundancy of the protection of the face mask,” Tuazon said.
“To our countrymen, let’s not look at this as a new expense or an added inconvenience. No amount of protection is too much when it comes to health and safety, especially that we are battling an invisible enemy. What we are addressing is not a transport issue but rather a health issue,” Tugade said.
But it is a new expense and an added inconvenience based on the unproven assumption that the virus can be spread through the eyes via the tear ducts which enter connect to the nasal cavity and thus the lungs. However if that is true then the ears will also have to be covered as the ear canal also reaches into the throat. How long until everyone is required to wear a helmet and gloves when they leave the house?
One enterprising Fil-Am has found a way to halt the spread of the coronavirus within an infected patient.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/05/20/fil-am-biotech-ceo-unveils-possible-novel-treatment-vs-covid-19 |
Filipino-American Rogelio "Vonz" Santos Jr., CEO of biotech firm Nucision, said he has developed a novel treatment called "Relivir" against COVID-19.
Neither a vaccine nor an antibody treatment, Relivir sits somewhere in the middle. It works by delivering a "programmable" enzyme that "cuts" the RNA of the SARS-CoV-2, essentially removing the virus' ability to replicate and multiply within a host's body, he said.
When the virus can no longer replicate, it can no longer infect new cells thereby stopping its severe effects on the human body.
"What that means, is that we are able to directly address not just the elimination of the virus but the replication rate," Santos said.
He added, "The replication rate is very important to address because if we don't address it at its source no matter how many treatments you put in the blood stream it will end up continuing to grow. You are constantly in a battle."
Most scientists focus on treating COVID-19 by building immunity either through a vaccine or an antibody treatment or repurposing existing antiviral drugs.
A treatment that won't kill the virus but will prevent it from replicating itself.
The DOH is taking advantage of the 14-day return to MECQ to hire 10,000 health workers.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/06/20/doh-says-to-hire-thousands-of-health-workers-during-14-day-timeout-under-mecq |
“We are in need of almost 10,000 health care workers. This means the call [for a] timeout really means substitution,” said Health Undersecretary Leopoldo “Bong” Vega during the launch of the One Hospital Command.
In requesting for a timeout, the medical workers said they need time to address the deluge of patients in hospitals due to the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and nearby hospitals.
Health workers themselves have also been infected with COVID-19, with 5,245 cases as of Aug. 4.
“We will not end the game but rather we will find fresh or new recruits into the system so the efficiency of our health care workers will be there," said Vega.
As of Aug. 2, the government has hired 6,510 health workers out of the 9,365 approved slots for emergency hiring in 340 health facilities.
Making the sports game analogy work requires that there are indeed enough players waiting in the wings and this seems to not be the case. The low pay and benefits do not help in attracting any qualified workers. But perhaps there are 3,000 more out there. In fact some of these doctors might be pulled from the provinces much to their detriment.
"Police officer have a way of asking questions that would help a subject remember events." Sounds threatening almost. Some lawmakers have suggested forming a medical reserve corps for times such as this.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to the economy.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/07/20/pullout-of-barrio-doctors-nurses-for-covid-19-fight-in-ncr-raises-virus-fears |
A government plan to pull out doctors and nurses deployed to geographically isolated and depressed areas in the Philippines and move to Metro Manila, the country’s coronavirus epicenter, has raised concerns among healthcare workers.
Dr. Carissa Rulla, a member of the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) program, said there are only 20 plus doctors serving more than 400,000 people living in Tawi-Tawi province.
"They are the people who have not seen a doctor, have not tasted government healthcare services. If we can be pulled out of our areas, who will be left behind?" she said in an interview on ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.
Many provinces are already deprived of medical professionals even before the pandemic. Some 70 percent of the country’s population live in rural areas, but 70 percent of healthcare resources are in cities, said Filipino Nurses United Secretary General Jocelyn Andamo.The whole nation has been deprived of medical professionals via the OFW problem/program. The PNP has said they will be augmenting health workers with PNP officers who have medical backgrounds.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/09/2033949/3000-cops-medical-backgrounds-help-hospitals |
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has mobilized around 3,000 police officers with medical background for deployment in Metro Manila to help healthcare frontliners in hospitals that are swamped with coronavirus patients, PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said yesterday.
Gamboa said the police officers are assigned in various units across the country and are ready to augment hospitals in Metro Manila that are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 patients.
“We are national in scope and anytime we can pull them out and let them work anywhere, we are open to that,” Gamboa told radio dzBB.
The police officers have degrees in medical-related courses such as nursing, medical technology and radiology.
Gamboa earlier said the policemen would undergo reorientation for one week before they are deployed in hospitals.
Gamboa also touted the capabilities of their personnel in helping the government’s contact tracing efforts to locate COVID-19 patients and their close contacts.
According to Gamboa, policemen have cognitive investigative skills unlike other individuals which can help elicit information from people infected with COVID-19.
He said police officers have a way of asking questions that would help a subject remember events and the people he had close contact with.
Gamboa clarified it is different from interrogating a suspected criminal to ferret out information.
"Police officer have a way of asking questions that would help a subject remember events." Sounds threatening almost. Some lawmakers have suggested forming a medical reserve corps for times such as this.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1318835/medical-reserve-corps-eyed |
Cayetano said the proposed MRC would be composed of Filipinos with degrees in medicine, nursing, medical technology and other health-related fields but have yet to obtain a license to practice due to various reasons.
“We have so many capable kababayans (countrymen) from the medical community who are willing to help and are just waiting to be tapped. All we need to do is to institutionally allow them to do so,” he said.If medical professionals were paid an appropriate wage so that no one left the country then perhaps there would be no need for an MRC.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not been kind to the economy.
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| https://business.inquirer.net/304543/officially-a-recession-ph-gdp-shrank-16-5-in-q2 |
The Philippine economy contracted by a record 16.5 percent during the second quarter — at the height of the longest and most stringent COVID-19 lockdown in the region that had put a halt to 75 percent of economic activities and shed millions of jobs.
The Philippines fell into a technical recession or two straight quarters of gross domestic product contraction during the first half, as GDP shrank by 0.7 percent year-on-year during the first quarter no thanks to the eruption of Taal Volcano and the tourism revenue losses at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though the economy is tanking the peso has hit a 3-year high against the dollar.
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| https://think.ing.com/snaps/philippines-falling-imports-to-help-keep-php-on-appreciation-trend/ |
The June trade balance narrowed to -US$1.3bn from -US$1.8 bn in May as imports fell faster than the drop in exports. We expect this trend to continue for the remainder of the year.
Weaker imports translate to lower demand for foreign currency onshore, which has helped support the recent PHP appreciation trend. Since we expect imports to continue contracting, we forecast the peso to remain supported in the near term as steady inflows related to overseas remittances and foreign borrowings outpace onshore dollar demand.
Meanwhile, we also expect GDP momentum to slow even further as the flow of capital goods, raw materials and consumer goods remain weak with positive GDP growth only expected to return in a base-effect induced rebound in 2021.
People have been wondering what the government's plan is to fight COVID-19. Here it is:
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| https://www.facebook.com/pnagovph/photos/a.734179973331112/3158959980853087/?type=1&theater |
Download it and zoom in to read all the fine details about the Philippines' official plan against COVID-19. This infographic deals with phase 2 of the NAP Against COVID-19 which is scheduled to last until the end of September. The government will be utilizing the Hammer and Dance theory.
The hammer means strict implementation of community quarantine protocols to battle the virus while the dance means the reopening of the economy. With the NCR back to MECQ it seems they might have to modify this plan.
Despite all the strict measures the government has taken the Philippines now has the most number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia.
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| https://globalnation.inquirer.net/190091/ph-now-has-most-covid-19-cases-in-southeast-asia |
With 119,460 total infections, the Philippines now has the most coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Southeast Asia.
On Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,561 new COVID-19 cases, putting the country ahead of Indonesia in terms of total COVID-19 cases in the region.
Indonesia’s Health Ministry announced 1,882 new infections, bringing its total COVID-19 caseload to 118,753, the Jakarta Post reported.
Metro Manila, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, accounts for more than half or 2,041 of the Philippines’ new cases.
Despite these numbers the Palace disagrees with this assessment and says these numbers must be interpreted with caution.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/07/2033617/palace-its-wrong-say-philippines-has-more-covid-19-cases-indonesia |
The Philippines has so far conducted 1,667,831 tests. Meanwhile, Indonesia has so far carried out 908,000 tests.
(Because we are more aggressive in testing, it’s not true that we have more cases than Indonesia.)
“The Indonesians just don’t know yet who among them are roaming with the virus. At least, for us, we already know.)
But the Philippines also has 50,473 active cases or patients who are currently ill—higher than Indonesia’s 37,587 active cases.
In terms of population ratio versus number of cases, the Philippines has 1,058 cases per million people, while Indonesia has 427 cases per million.
Asked for his basis for claiming the Philippines has fewer cases than Indonesia, Roque responded: “I don’t know how to answer that. But it’s clear to me that Indonesia, with or less the same [number] of cases as us, has 1/3 of the actual testing we have conducted on our people."
Clearly the Philippines has more COVID-19 cases than Indonesia and Roque is pussyfooting around the fact. His answer to his basis for claiming the Philippines has fewer cases is, "I don't know." That's not an answer.
No vaccine is in sight yet but there could be medicine for treatment soon.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1318060/clinical-trials-in-ph-for-japans-antiviral-drug-to-start-on-august-10-doh |
The clinical trials in the Philippines for the Japanese antiviral flu drug Avigan will start on August 10, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Philippines has already received the Avigan tablets for the clinical trials, amid the continued search for a treatment for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
(We will start on August 10 for the Avigan trial. Let us just wait. The drugs are already here. We are starting soon.)
Vergeire said the drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in Japan, thus it will no longer have to undergo excessive regulatory processes in the Philippines.
“This trial has been approved by FDA and the ethics review board already kaya mag-u-umpisa na po tayo sa (so we can start on) August 10,” she added.
In a statement, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines said the tablets for 100 patients have been delivered on Thursday “as part of its emergency grant aid to countries severely affected by COVID-19.”
It noted that the anti-flu drug “has drawn interest from many countries for its potential to prevent viral replication, even as its effectiveness against the novel coronavirus is yet to be established.”
Hopefully the trials will yield promising results.
The government is suggesting people practice social distancing even at home.
The government is suggesting people practice social distancing even at home.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/09/2033950/practice-distancing-even-home |
Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año urged people to observe physical distancing even at home to avoid contracting COVID-19, which has already infected over 122,000 persons in the country.
It means that family members should keep a distance of at least one meter among themselves in their homes as a precaution against COVID-19.
According to Año, households should practice physical distancing especially if there are family members who are working outside.
“Even if we are at home, we still have protocols and we still have physical distancing.
Because you do not know where a member of your household went or came from,” he said in Filipino.
This will of course be impossible for all the millions of poor people who live in tiny shanties.
School is set to start soon and poor parents are scrambling to obtain the devices their children will need for online learning.
School is set to start soon and poor parents are scrambling to obtain the devices their children will need for online learning.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1317954/cash-strapped-parents-try-barter-to-have-e-learning-gadgets-for-kids |
The Covid-19 pandemic has deprived many Filipino parents of stable income and driven them to the edge.
Now they are pushed to hustle for the perceived new “necessity” in their children’s schooling and are taking to Facebook to offer certain goods in exchange for gadgets to be used in distance learning.
Ironically, the Department of Education (DepEd) says these gadgets are “not required.”
Single parent Ailyn Austria tried her luck in the group “Laguna Barter Community” and offered a flatiron, three towels, and a blanket for an Android phone that her son can use when he enters the eighth grade.
But according to Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua, parents are not obliged to buy gadgets because they have a choice of learning modalities that will best suit their resources.
“If that barter trade is true and the exchange of items for devices is happening, it’s very unfortunate because it is not required to have one,” Pascua said.
“During the enrollment, parents are asked what resources are accessible for them. When that accessibility is defined, then we tell them which learning modality is best for their child,” Undersecretary Pascua said. “But we never told them to buy gadgets.”
The seeming “confusion” and “panic” of parents who resort to online barter transactions for their children’s schooling resulted from their understanding of the information presented to them, said Jerome Buenviaje, dean of the University of the Philippines College of Education (UPCEd).
“Parents are panicking because, of course, they only want the best for their kids and they go through such methods because it’s how they understand things,” Buenviaje said, adding it was now incumbent on the school leadership to disseminate information that would allay the stakeholders’ fears.
If this is all a misunderstanding then the DepEd should reevaluate how it distributes information.
The government is not telling people to despise those who do not wear face masks.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1319192/ano-despise-people-who-ignore-basic-hygiene-rules |
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday urged Filipinos to follow basic hygiene rules, saying it could help contain the spread of the new coronavirus under moderate quarantine restrictions.
Año also called on the public to show that they “despise people who are violating the minimum health standards.”
“If we see people not wearing masks, we should speak about it. Let’s show that we despise these people who are violating the minimum health standards,” he said.
If the government wants people to depose their neighbors who do not wear face masks it stand to reason that they despise those who violate the quarantine regulations.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/11/2034476/eleazar-hits-violators-tells-filipinos-dont-make-it-hard-govt-protect-you |
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said in a statement that the task force "continues to receive reports of violations of quarantine rules at the community level such as engaging in drinking sessions, holding and attending parties and other celebrations, and even gambling."
Earlier, the JTF COVID Shield said it got these reports through "observations on social media."
“The success and failure of our fight against COVID-19 depends on the cooperation of our kababayan. The more they defy and challenge the rules set by the government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the more they make it difficult for our government to protect them,” said Eleazar.
“On the part of the JTF COVID Shield, we will continue to maximize what we have to strictly enforce the quarantine rules because what is at stake here is the lives of the Filipino people and the fate of our country,” he added.
This kind of language, along with the visible presence of armored vehicles and armed troops, is what has prompted some to decry the militarization of the Philippines' COVID-19 response. The AFP denies this is the case. However Senator Bato says the PNP and the military are best equipped to handle the COVID-19 response and has threatened to deploy more troops to fight COVID-19.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1319742/duterte-says-he-might-tap-military-if-public-doesnt-comply-with-quarantine-rules |
“We have also seen a continuous rise in COVID cases, especially in the NCR [National Capital Region]. Now this is what you get… As I told you, I cannot stop all of you. The police cannot be everywhere and anywhere all the time,” Duterte, speaking partly in Filipino, said in his Monday night briefing.
“The military is not part of the governance yet in the matter of using force or at least intimidating you with soldiers. Far from it, we do not have that plan. But if you won’t learn your lesson — it’s a runaway contagion — I will be forced to use the military because we really lack police officers,” he said.
But if it would be the factor that would force the public to strictly follow quarantine rules, then Duterte said he would be willing to do it.
“Now if the military is there to enforce [the rules] for you to obey this community lockdown, follow it because it is for your own benefit,” he said.It's a fine line the government is walking. What is the best way to fight the virus? Locking down cities? Duterte says he has no more money and the economy must open. Deploying the military to make sure everyone is following the rules? Experts says face masks are inefficient in preventing transmission of COVID-19. Whatever the response the government says they are preparing for a prolonged pandemic as they wait for a vaccine. In the meantime cases continue to rise prompting one Thailand newspaper to call the Philippines "the land of COVID-19."
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/pinoyabroad/news/750694/philippine-embassy-in-thailand-addresses-land-of-covid-story/story/ |
The Philippine Embassy in Thailand has expressed "deep dissatisfaction" over a story in a local newspaper that carried a story on returning Filipino teachers and branding the the Philippines as the "Land of COVID-19."
The statement is based on the Aug. 9, 2020 issue of the Thai newspaper, Thai Rath, that carried a story on the arrival of 165 Filipino teachers at the Suvarnabhumi Airport on Aug. 8, 2020.
The embassy sent a letter, signed by by Consul General Val Simon T. Roque, addressed to Thai Rath Editor in Chief Saravut Vacharapol.
"The Philippines Embassy wishes to express its deep dissatisfaction over the characterization in the headline of the Philippines in relation to the return of the teachers," Roque said in the letter.
"The characterization is inappropriate, insensitive, and unhelpful at a time when all of us, brothers and sisters in the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), are closely cooperating with the new and unforeseen challenges brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)," he added.
Despite having the most number of active COVID-19 cases in SEA and being perceived as "the land of COVID-19" the government says they have everything under control. How can they have anything under control when the DOH admits they do not even have a contact tracing team? Now that the Philippines is the "land of COVID-19" China is requiring all Filipino travelers to be tested before they enter the country.
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| https://globalnation.inquirer.net/190207/china-requires-inbound-travelers-from-ph-to-present-covid-19-negative-result-certificate |
Inbound travelers to China from the Philippines are now required to take a nucleic acid test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and present a negative result before they can be allowed to board the aircraft starting August 20.
In an advisory issued by the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, it said travelers with inbound flights to China from the Philippines should first secure a nucleic acid test certificate with a negative result within five days prior to their flight.
This requirement, the embassy noted, is in accordance with the earlier announcement of Chinese authorities requiring travelers to mainland China to undergo a nucleic acid COVID-19 test.
Ironically this kind of measure should have been taken by the Philippines for all travelers from China back in January but they declined to do so.
Putin says Russia has developed a vaccine and Duterte is ready to try it out. On himself!
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/12/2034645/duterte-volunteers-be-guinea-pig |
In a taped briefing Monday evening, Duterte said he was grateful to Russian President Vladimir Putin for extending assistance to the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To show them that I trust them and that they didn’t make a mistake in making the offer, I’ll have myself get vaccinated first. If it works on me, it’ll work on everyone,” he said in Filipino.
“In public, para walang satsat diyan, in public magpa-injection ako. Ako ‘yung maunang ma-eksperimentuhan. OK para sa akin (In public – so they won’t say anything – in public I’ll get an injection. I’ll be the first to be experimented on. It’s OK with me),” he said.
Sounds good but the only problem is that Duterte does not meet DOH guidelines for participating in vaccine trials.
President Rodrigo Duterte boldly declared on Monday night that he would immediately try out the vaccine against the new coronavirus being developed by Russia, but the government’s own requirements for people who would be allowed to take part in the clinical trials disqualify him outright.
According to the guidelines set by the country’s vaccine expert panel for the conduct here of the Phase 3 clinical trials, priority will be given to people aged 18 to 59 and are at high risk of coronavirus infection. These people include health workers and contacts of COVID-19 patients.
He is too old!
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