Thursday, August 6, 2020

Coronavirus Lockdown: Normalcy by December, Mocking Nurses, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.

Humans aren't the only creatures being affected by the pandemic.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1110522
The head of the City Veterinary Office (CVO) on Wednesday said they have intensified their campaign against stray dogs after an increasing number was observed roaming the streets in the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis. 
Dr. Emmanuel Estipona, in an interview, said that from April 26 to the present, they have recorded 550 captured stray dogs roaming the city streets. 
“The CVO is continuously conducting stray dogs operation day and night in different villages including subdivisions and other public places as part of the city’s stray dogs elimination program to prevent the spread of rabies cases in the community and also to prevent the vehicular accident in public places,” he said. 
He said the number is much higher than during the past few years.
The CVO does not offer any opinions why the number of stray dogs has risen during the COVID-19 pandemic nor does the CVO say what they do with he stray dogs they capture.

 Roque finally cleared up what he meant by making Manila a "living experiment."
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/30/20/roque-says-living-experiment-remark-refers-to-pilot-run-of-covid-19-pooled-testing-in-ncr
Roque on Wednesday drew flak for saying that "Metro Manila will be a living experiment and it’s an experiment that we believe we can be successful at, and it will be something that we can be proud of." 
The Palace mouthpiece acknowledged that he may have used the wrong term to describe the pilot run of pooled testing in the capital region. 
(When it comes to the experiment, it should be a pilot of pooled testing that will increase by 10 times our testing capacity) 
(Maybe the word experiment was wrong but it's because we haven't done pooled testing in the Philippines before.)
Pooled testing means:
To save supplies, especially in situations where resources are limited, and test more people, pooled testing may be implemented. Pooled testing means taking samples from multiple people, storing part of each sample individually, and combining the other part of each sample into batches, or pools, and then testing each pool. This allows many more people to be tested in an initial round of testing than tests that do not use pools, and then for any pool that indicates a positive result, the samples that contributed to that pool can be tested individually to identify the positive people.
https://covid19.nj.gov/faqs/coronavirus-information/testing-information/what-does-pooled-testing-mean
Hopefully the experiment will work and more people will be tested.  Meanwhile Carlito Galvez Jr. says Philippine health facilities are unprepared.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1314351/ph-health-facilities-unprepared-for-covid-pandemic-galvez
National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer  Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. on Thursday admitted that the country was unable to prepare and invest in its health facilities prior to the pandemic.   
Galvez added that there are other “variables” which that came into play which is why the country’s situation should not be compared to other countries’ COVID-19 response. 
(We see that as a nation, we were unable to prepare the health facilities. We were not able to invest as a nation in our health facilities.) 
(If we look at regional areas, for instance in Region 4A, there are almost no level 3 hospitals there. That’s why it is being overwhelmed because our preparation in building up our capacity was supposed to be done three to four administrations ago.)
Anyone who has been to a Philippine hospital knows what he means. Even the private hospitals are woefully understaffed, dirty, and lack medicines and machines. The Philippines has absolutely not invested in their health facilities they way they should have. It also does not help that many healthcare workers leave the nation for better pay. This brain drain deprives the nation of necessary workers.

Out of the nearly 600 local government units that have submitted their diagnostic tests on their contact tracing efforts, less than one percent have been found to have a “relatively good” system of contact tracing. 
This was bared by COVID-19 contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong in an interview over ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo Thursday. 
Magalong said the national government had sent online diagnostic questionnaires to around 1,900 LGUs to inquire about their contact tracing efforts. But almost one week after the questionnaires have been sent, only nearly 600 have so far submitted their responses. 
Of the LGUs that already provided answers to the questionnaire, only 0.68 percent were found to have a “relatively good” system of contact tracing, according to Magalong. 
(It’s saddening that this is happening. They were concentrating on the number of contact tracers just to comply but the system is not properly established.) 
Magalong said that most local government units in the country still need about three more weeks before ideal contact tracing teams that will locate close contacts of coronavirus disease patients can be established.
LGU's were busy hiring contract tracers in order to comply with the regulations but have no system in place for actual contact tracing. So how will .68% increase to an ideal in a mere three weeks?

There's always unscrupulous people looking to make a buck from any crisis.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1314089/covid-test-fixers-prey-on-stranded-passengers-in-batangas-port
Some enterprising people were offering rapid tests to detect the virus causing the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to stranded passengers in the port of Batangas City as they rush to get home to Mindoro Island and provinces in the Visayas, a local official said. 
Although aware of such scheme, the Department of Health (DOH) cannot simply stop these people, especially if they are from private and licensed laboratories, said Ramonito Martin, commander of the COVID Incident Management Team in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region. 
Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor said “bookers” or fixers near the Batangas seaport, where Mindoro and Visayas-bound passengers embark, charge P10,000 for every RT-PCR (reversed transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test, about twice the cost of the standard swab test offered by the Philippine Red Cross and other institutions.
The DOH can't stop fixers from charging double for a COVID-9 test? Aren't there anti-fixer laws? Surely someone can stop them.

Duterte has reassured the nation that everything will be back to normal by December.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippines-extends-coronavirus-restrictions-in-manila-as-cases-surge
President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed hope that the Philippines "will be back to normal" by December, when he expects a vaccine against Covid-19 to emerge out of China 
"I promise you, by the grace of God, I hope by December we will be back to normal," he said during his regular briefing aired on Friday (July 31). 
"Let's just wait for a vaccine. Let's wait till December, if we can just be patient... We are not going back to a 'new normal'. It's going to be normal again," he said.
Meanwhile doctors at Johns Hopkins say don't expect a vaccine until the end 2021 and even then it has to be mass produced and distributed. Nonetheless Duterte insists there is no roadmap to recovery without the vaccine.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1315157/duterte-vaccine-needed-before-recovery-road-map
President Rodrigo Duterte said he needed a vaccine against the coronavirus that caused the global COVID-19 pandemic before he could lay down the roadmap for the country’s recovery from the national health crisis. 
He was reacting to criticisms that he did not spell out clear plans to deal with the pandemic in his State of the Nation Address on Monday. 
“I could not have uttered a single sentence about roadmap to recovery because the medicine must come first,” the President said.
Whenever a vaccine is available Duterte does not want the DOH to distribute it.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1314799/duterte-military-to-lead-distribution-of-covid-19-vaccine
President Rodrigo Duterte wants the military to lead the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country once it becomes available. 
In an address to the nation aired Friday morning, Duterte said only the military would be trusted to hand out the COVID-19 vaccine, noting that he wouldn’t trust barangay captains to do it since the process may be politicized. 
“Sino ang magdala nito? Military lang. I am asking the Armed Forces, I am asking Gen. Lorenzana. The implementing arm (would be the) military,” Duterte said.
Surely the AFP has enough on its plate already. Why add an extra burden?

 Speaking of extra burdens, now the public are being encouraged to wear face shields in addition to face masks.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1110767
The government is encouraging the public to wear face shields in public spaces with low ventilation to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malacañang said on Friday. 
In a press statement, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Diseases (IATF-EID) is considering directing the public to use face shields to complement the wearing of face masks in low ventilation settings, including public transportation. 
He, however, clarified that there is no order yet compelling the public to wear face shields. 
“Studies have shown that wearing of face shields, in addition to wearing of masks and physical distancing, would further reduce virus transmission in low ventilation settings,” said Roque, who also serves as IATF-EID spokesperson. 
He said wearing face shields is also part of the minimum public health standards that need to be observed amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
How long until the public is compelled by the threat of fines or arrests to wear a face shield?

 The economy is Northern Mindanao has taken a hit since the pandemic began.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1314620/covid-19-casualty-4500-jobs-erased-in-northern-mindanao
More than 4,500 workers in Northern Mindanao permanently lost their jobs as the coronavirus health crisis forced many businesses in the region to either close or downsize operations. 
Data from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed that as of July 20, 35 establishments have closed shop and terminated the services of at least 663 workers. Nine companies are in the tourism industry. 
Of the 35 firms, 23 are located in Cagayan de Oro, the region’s main economic hub. 
At least 272 other companies have downsized and retrenched a total of 3,872 workers. 
Most of the retrenchment come from the tourism industry, 2,516 workers from 181 firms. The rest are from construction (606 workers), wholesale and retail (523 workers) and manufacturing (227 workers). 
The closure and downsizing of the businesses come as quarantine restrictions were already eased throughout the region.
Those jobs might not be coming back.

 Motorcycle groups continue to warn about the dangers of the required barriers for pillion riders.
The supposed anti-coronavirus barriers that motorcycle riders are required to install may affect aerodynamics of the motorcycle, making it potentially unsafe for both riders, a motorcycle riders' group said on Sunday.  
Speaking in an interview aired over ABS-CBN's Teleradyo, Atoy Cruz, director for administration of the Motorcycle Philippines Federation, explained that riders who are couples and who live together—the only class of people allowed to ride pillion under current health protocols—should already be safe as long as they observe minimum health standards and wear helmets, long-sleeved garments, and gloves. 
"On highways where there are a lot of fast-moving vehicles, what we're afraid of is wind dragging and wind lifting as they call it. Even if you drive slow, if a faster vehicle like a bus or truck goes past you, you might have a problem with your handlebar. Your motorcycle will wiggle and you might even get into an accident," Cruz said in Filipino.
"There have already been riders who experienced that...so we have to be really careful with it," he added.  
The Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association, which includes representatives from Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha, has already cautioned that the barriers "will negatively affect stability and handling of the motorcycle." 
They said in a statement that this would compromise rider safety. 
"The proposed pillion shield will create significant wind resistance when the motorycle is in motion," they also said in a statement. 
They said that unauthorized attachments like the barrier would compromise "years of careful planning, design and development carried out by teams of engineers to ensure the utmost safety of each unit." 
Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the joint task force enforcing quarantine protocols, has insisted the barriers are safe and that accidents could be due to faulty installation or substandard materials used. 
“Let us avoid the ‘puwede na’ (good enough) mentality because we are talking about your safety and the safety of your partner. The two approved designs have specifications that conformed the quality standard for safety of the riders,” Eleazar said in July.
PNP Lt. Gen. Eleazar is right. The barriers have been rigorously tested and are safe.


The motorcycle groups don't know what they are talking about.

When quarantine rules were eased on May 16, Fr. Mario Sol Gabriel began giving the communion wafers at a “drive-through” service. 
He handed out the host to devotees who participated in the online Mass from their vehicles parked outside The Lord’s Transfiguration Parish church in Angeles City. 
He also introduced “drive-through confessions,” though he later had to discontinue them due to concerns about transmitting the coronavirus.
Medical workers are calling for a "timeout" as they are overwhelmed by the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Some medical workers are calling for another ECQ lockdown while others agree with the sentiment but oppose ECQ.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/02/2032420/medical-quarantine-not-ecq-health-professionals-call-change-militaristic-lockdowns
A group of doctors on Sunday opposed a call for a return to enhanced community quarantine saying the way the quarantines have been implemented are "devoid of scientific sense and health purpose." 
They did, however, echo an earlier call from medical professionals and frontliners urging the national government to reform and recalibrate its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
On the 138th day since ECQ was first put in place, six medical frontliners in a "second opinion" said that the "Duterte-style enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or lockdown" set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has been unscientific and oppressive.  
"Doctors and healthcare workers must reclaim quarantine for what it should be: A public health measure aimed at saving lives by stopping the spread of disease. We must reject the distorted forms of 'community quarantine' being imposed on us, as these are devoid of scientific sense and health purpose, and serve only to oppress our people," they said. 
"If we are to implement a quarantine, it must be a medical quarantine, with healthcare workers in the lead and with clear health goals and outcomes. To truly benefit our overburdened healthcare workers, a new framework and new leadership direction than the ones we currently have are imperative," they also said. 
Duterte decided to listen to their pleas and has ordered the are under lockdown via MECQ.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1315739/duterte-says-npa-can-line-up-for-free-covid-19-vaccine-but-fighting-will-come-later
In a late night briefing on Sunday, President Rodrigo Duterte switched Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan back to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for 15 days from August 4 to 18.  
Since the announcement was made minutes before midnight, the administration essentially gave the public a mere 24 hours to close shops anew, scramble to buy groceries, transact with banks and buy medicines before stricter quarantines that will see checkpoints and quarantine passes return. 
Under MECQ, 100% of the population in the sanctioned area are ordered to stay home. For people allowed to go out like health workers, the immediate impact is felt through lack of public transport. Meanwhile, jeepney drivers, some of whom were just recently allowed to earn a living, will be prohibited to ply their routes.
It's what the health workers wanted but now they will have a harder time getting to work with some having to walk and others perhaps catching a free ride from the PNP. VP Robredo has resumed her free transportation for health workers program. Duterte did not heed their call without a fit of anger at allegedly being the last to know about their requests which resulted in him dumping all over health workers and accusing them of wanting a revolution.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1315803/duterte-hits-frontliners-for-airing-pleas-publicly-do-not-demean-your-own-govt
“Do not try to demean government. You’re not actually criticizing. You demean my government, your own government,” Duterte said in a taped speech. 
“Then you threaten a revolution. This is our country. You want us to destroy it? Start it now,” he added, speaking partly in Filipino. 
Duterte made these remarks on the heels of a plea from health care workers to reimpose a strict lockdown in Metro Manila to give them time to recuperate from exhaustion due to the continuous surge of COVID-19 cases nationwide, which had already breached the 100,000 mark. 
“To send a message without giving the government a chance, so what do you want now? That I will implement other things in this government without informing you? Would you be happy with that?” he asked the medical frontliners.
He continued his tirade by mocking nurses who would like a raise.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1315808/want-higher-pay-join-police-force-duterte-tells-nurses
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday night encouraged nurses to enter the police force if they would want to get higher pay. 
“Enter the police force. The salary is higher. If you remain a nurse outside, you only get about eight, nine, ten [thousand pesos,” Duterte said in a taped speech. 
Last month, government nurses got their pay hike after a delay of  18 years as the Department of Budget and Management issued Budget Circular No. 2020-4, which finally implemented Section 32 of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002, giving nurses a minimum monthly base pay of Salary Grade (SG) 15 — or P32,053 to P34,801 in state-run health institutions.
The accusation of wanting to start a revolution stems from the singing of the song "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Miserables. Only one thing though. The song was not sung by healthcare workers but by actors during the SONA. The Philippine College of Physicians have since apologized saying:
"If you closely review the virtual conference on August 1, there was never a call for a revolt nor was there any threat of leaving patients on their own since our oath instructs us to 'first do no harm' to anyone who needs our help," Panaligan said. 
He said that by training and by their nature, doctors are not used to making ultimatums "but if our requests and observations were taken as an assertive display of indignation, we apologize for the way the message was taken in a negative light."
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/08/03/2032629/doctors-sorry-if-duterte-took-their-suggestions-call-revolt
A return to MECQ means harder regulations which will be rigidly enforced. The head of QC's COVID-19 task force has an uncompromising opinion on how to deal with quarantine violators.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/04/20/qc-task-force-head-under-fire-for-shoot-to-kill-threat-vs-quarantine-violators
The head of the Quezon City local government's Task Force Disiplina has drawn flak for saying that violators of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) should be shot dead. 
Rannie Ludovica, a former city councilor, in a post on her personal Facebook account, said "From tomorrow shoot to kill MECQ violators." 
The post has been reportedly taken down but several netizens posted screenshots of his statement. 
Sought for comment, Mayor Joy Belmonte said the personal post of Ludovica isn't reflective of the policies of the city. 
"I think it was very wrong and in very poor taste for him to have posted this message and I'd like to assure the people of Quezon City that his personal post in no way reflects our city's policies, principles and inclinations." Belmonte told ABS-CBN News. 
However, Belmonte reminded netizens not to take Ludovica's statements literally. 
"I see it more as an expression of frustration that five months into the quarantine, the cases still keep growing, party (sic) because people can't seem to comply with minimum health standards." the mayor added.
Funny how the mayor admits the FB post was in poor taste, the DILG says it was both illegal and improper, everyone condemns Ludovica, but the mayor goes on to give a half-hearted apology for this totally unacceptable statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic is costing billions and PhilHealth says if this situation continues then they will collapse.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1316479/no-more-philhealth-by-2022-if-pandemic-persists-official
“By next year po, wala na po tayong reserve funds. So one year lang po ang ating actuarial life,” Nerissa Santiago, Acting PhilHealth Senior Vice President, and Concurrent Vice President of Data Protection Officer, said during the Senate hearing on  alleged widespread corruption within the state health pension fund. 
Santiago was responding to queries of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who was inquiring about the actuarial life of PhilHealth. 
“So you’re saying that the actuarial life of PhilHealth is only one year?” Drilon asked.  
“Are you saying that  in 2022 there will be no more PhilHealth?” 
“Yes sir,” Santiago replied. 
Drilon said the official’s disclosure was worrisome. 
Santiago explained that the agency expects a net operating loss of P90 billion this year and P147 billion in 2021 if the pandemic persists and no vaccine is discovered. 
To keep the agency afloat, she said the government should give more contributions or subsidies to PhilHealth. 
“This is very serious. We would like really to hear what steps you are going to undertake assuming that your projections are true,” Drilon said. “This is really a cause of concern for the entire country when you are saying that in 2021 unless additional subsidies are given in the national budget, the PhilHealth system will collapse.” 
Before the pandemic, Santiago said the actuarial life of PhilHealth was more than 10 years. 
The pandemic, however, had a “double impact” on the agency’s program because of the decreased collections and expected increase in benefit payouts.
The Palace disagrees.
"As (one of the) authors of Universal Health Law, we do not, at least for a minute, consider that PhilHealth's safety will only result in premiums," Roque told a press release at the Palace.
"We know you will not get free medicine and free treatment if the premiums are to avoid the expense of Philhealth." 
"If it is Philhealth money, the government will provide funding so it is called Universal Health Care, not medical insurance."
True PhilHealth does not receive funds solely from premiums. Excise taxes are also supposed to pay for the program but since the lockdowns with the liquor and tobacco bans as well as the PCSO heating operations those taxes are way down. This issue has been raised many times since March.

The DOH admits that there have been "a lot of gaps" in the way the Philippnes has handled the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1316952/doh-admits-a-lot-of-gaps-in-covid-19-response
Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said this in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel amid calls for Duque to resign over supposed lapses in his leadership at the DOH amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 
“The secretary has been working so hard since the start. He has been able to guide the whole DOH into this response,” Vergeire said. 
“Even though there have been a lot of gaps—we all know that—it’s not just the Secretary. But also this is not just really DOH’s fight. It is the fight of the whole country, the fight of the whole government,” she added. 
“We support the Secretary. His leadership has brought us here where we are now, where we have done a lot already for this response,” Vergeire pointed out.
And just where has the leadership of Duque brought the Philippines?
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1317153/philippines-posts-record-daily-rise-in-coronavirus-cases-could-become-southeast-asias-new-epicenter
The Philippines could soon become the new epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic in Southeast Asia, as it reported another record single-day jump in infections on Tuesday (Aug 4). 
The grim news came on the first day of a tough new lockdown that will confine some 27 million to their homes for two weeks and sent the economy in a tailspin again. 
The Department of Health tallied 6,352 new cases, bringing the country’s total caseload to 112,593. By comparison, Indonesia, which has the most number of cases in Southeast Asia, has 115,056 infections. 
Eleven more people in the Philippines died, raising the death toll from the pandemic to 2,115.
Poised to become Southeast Asia's new epicenter of COVID-19!
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