More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Christmas caroling has been banned not only by LGUs but now by the Church.
This holiday season, Christmas carol activities for parishes is prohibited due to the pandemic, Catholic Church officials in Manila said.
Manila Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said churches in the archdiocese have been told not to organize such activity.
“We have already instructed our parishes not to organize carolings,” he said in a statement.
The Manila auxiliary bishop added that there was no formal order regarding the non-holding of Christmas caroling but they were informed during a meeting earlier this month.
“There’s no letter. I just told them in our zoom meeting,” he said.
The move is to curb the spread of coronavirus disease, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Permanent Committee on Public Affairs (CBCP-PCPA) executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano.
He said doing so would protect the public and the choir members since according to experts, the virus can easily transmit through singing.
Like all things COVID-19 the spread of the virus through singing is not a settled science.
But let's cancel Christmas actives for fear of spreading a virus with an over 90% recovery rate. The IATF has officially banned Christmas caroling this year.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the steak disparities across the country as far as internet access goes.
In this health crisis where almost everyone needs an online connection, residents in this town’s farming village have found bamboo poles as a technology ally useful to access social media.
Bamboos, measuring about 10 meters erected next to houses, are a common sight in Tenani village, which is 15 km. away from the town center of Paranas.
At the tip of the bamboo pole, a plastic bottle is installed covering a WiFi modem.
“That's for us to access Messenger and Facebook,” Sherly Villamor, a mother of five and a long-time village resident, said on Wednesday.
Due to its location, poor mobile phone signal is a common concern among villagers.
“We have mobile phones here, but you can't call or message us. The best way to contact us is through Facebook and Messenger,” Villamor said in an interview.
The residents learned about the makeshift signal booster last March when movement restrictions deprived them of face-to-face communication with those outside their village.
“One of our neighbors tried this very simple 'technology' – WiFi modem on top of a tall bamboo pole. It is covered by an empty bottled water container to keep it dry during rainy days,” she added.
These bamboos, however, don’t guarantee round-the-clock social media access since they can only send and receive Facebook messages late at night and make video calls past midnight.
“I bought the modem for my children to do online research, but the problem is we only have signal during night time. The messaging app is still beneficial since they can ask for clarification from their teachers and classmates at night,” Villamor said.
WIFI modems on top of a bamboo pole are big technology to this remote village. Funny that it's only Facebook which keeps them connected to the outside world. The catch is the internet only works late at night after midnight!
A vaccine is apparently right around the corner which is why Duterte has changed his stance about paying in advance.
President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation to make advance payments to suppliers of potential vaccines for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malacañang said Thursday.
“Papasok po tayo ng advance market commitments kasama ng private vaccine developers at pagbigay ng advance payments sa kanila (We will enter into advanced market commitments with private vaccine developers and will give advanced payments to them),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing.
Roque said Duterte agreed to enter into advance market commitments (AMCs) to avoid being among the last countries to acquire a vaccine. The President was initially against having to pay pharmaceutical companies to reserve vaccines in advance.
“So medyo pumayag na po tayo na magkakaroon tayo ng advanced kasi pag hindi po tayo pumayag baka mangulelat tayo dun sa mga bansa na makakakuha ng vaccine (We agreed to pay in advance because if we don’t, we might be the last among countries to get the vaccine),” he said.
He said Duterte changed his mind about making advanced payments after seeing a list of countries that have already made AMCs.
Duterte does not want to be last. But will there be enough money? And what about proper cold storage facilities?
Don't think a vaccine will solve anything. The pandemic will continue even with one.
The Philippines will continue waging "a long and enduring battle" with the coronavirus pandemic even after a vaccine arrives, an official said Friday, some 8 months into varying degrees of lockdown meant to curb the crisis.
The Philippines, which has the second highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, plans to procure an initial 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. With 2 doses required per person, this means that only a quarter of the 108 million population will get inoculated next year.
Vaccination drives for COVID-19 will continue until 2022, said Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who heads efforts to trace those who had contact with coronavirus patients.
"This will still be a long and enduring battle. Looking at the latest development sa vaccine, I don't think we'll be able to immunize everyone dito sa Pilipinas (here in the Philippines) by 2021," he said in a public briefing.
Allegedly it will be a long battle because the government will not be able to immunize everyone. What that battle looks like remains to be seen. Face masks and face shields for years? How will the Philippines figure in the Great Reset? Never forget we were told there is no returning to "normal."
Life goes on even in the pandemic.
Forty-nine couples exchanged “I do’s” during a “face-mask wedding” ceremony in Tulunan, North Cotabato, as the town celebrates its 59th founding anniversary Thursday.
Tulunan Mayor Pip Limbungan, who administered the mass wedding around noon at the town gymnasium, said the event has become one of the highlights of the town's annual festivities.
The eldest among the brides was a 52-year-old woman with a disability who married a 44-year-old farmer.
They have been living as husband and wife for the past 10 years without a civil or church wedding, officials said.
“Minimum health protocols were properly observed, that is why it was called face mask wedding,” Limbungan said.
If they can perform mass weddings with face masks then why not caroling with face masks?
The FDA is looking to approve home testing kits for COVID-19.
The test kit for coronavirus disease 2019 that can be used at home may soon be available in the country, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
FDA director general Eric Domingo said the agency could easily process and approve the use of a self-testing kit for COVID-19 when its manufacturer applies for the required registration.
The first self-test kit for COVID is available in the US.
How does this even work? Who can poke a cotton swab through their nose to the back of their throat? The thought curls my toes.
The PNP says crime is down during the pandemic but the AMLC says financial crime is up.
As many were compelled to use digital payments during the strict lockdowns implemented in the first half of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a dramatic increase in reports of suspicious transactions was seen in the first eight months of the year.
In a virtual press briefing, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) noted a surge in suspicious transaction reports (STRs) related to online activities in its “COVID-19 Financial Crime Trend Analysis and Typologies Brief, Series 2.”
Diokno, who as BSP governor also chairs the AMLC, said the report examines STRs submitted to AMLC from January 1 to August 31, 2020, which covered the months of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), modified ECQ, and general community quarantine.
“STR submissions for the period increased by 57% compared with the same months in 2019,” he said.
So crime in the real world is down according to the PNP but in the virtual world it is up according to the BSP.
Apparently Senator Lacson and Congressman Romuladez were given a COVID-19 vaccine.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said that a senator and a congressman had been injected with a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine and that they were immune to the illness.
According to Sotto, Senator Panfilo Lacson and House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez had been inoculated with a vaccine "seems to be similar to Pfizer," which only recently concluded its late-stage trials .
“Senator Lacson, the courage. It was immunized, it was injected. He is ahead, he and Martin Romualdez… seem to be the same as Pfizer, ”Sotto said in a radio interview.
Sotto said that others have already taken the vaccine. However, he did not specify if these were only Lacson and Romualdez or also other individuals.
“There are already but the others are brave enough to lead. Senator Lacson and I are joking, he said partner you are still immunized. I said wait, I'll see you first 'This Christmas, you still know me. Maybe later one day tell me, who are you? ” he said.
Sotto said that the 72-year-old Lacson told him he felt as if he was 30 years old after taking the vaccine.
This is a rare bizarre story and it's not clear if it's true as Lacson laughed it off when asked about it. But he also did not deny it either.
The BSP says the worst is over as far as the economy goes but hundreds of thousands of OFW's, who prop up the economy via remittances, have lost their jobs.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed nearly 320,000 overseas Filipino workers to return to the country, data from the labor department showed.
Government made its first repatriation efforts related to COVID-19 in February, when it brought back to the Philippines the OFWs from Wuhan City in China, where the virus first emerged late last year.
The numbers have grown since then, with some 38,516 returning to the country in November alone, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and bringing the total to 319,333.
OWWA has reported that the repatriated OFWs were transported to their provinces after being tested and cleared for the coronavirus.
A labor official in early September had put an estimate of as many as 700,000 Filipino workers abroad that could lose their jobs, as many countries enter a recession as a result of the ongoing health crisis.
Assistant Secretary Dominique Rubia-Tutay said overseas employment prospects in the tourism, retail and personal services industry will likely continue to shrink as the pandemic goes on.
700,000 unemployed OFW's would be a huge loss to the economy.
Who knew that family planning was essential to fighting the pandemic?
Pandemic and disaster preparedness programs must include family planning to build up the resiliency of families and communities against calamities, the Commission on Population (PopCom) said over the weekend.
Ahead of today’s start of “Population and Development Week,” PopCom executive director Juan Antonio Perez III pushed for the inclusion of family planning in the drafting of programs related to pandemic and disaster response.
“Practicing family planning and responsible parenthood should be part of medium- to long-term solutions toward building the resiliency of families and communities, as these would enable couples to have greater capacity to ensure their health, financial stability, and other social protections in the future,” Perez said.
When families are planned, vulnerabilities diminish and communities can overcome pandemic and natural calamities, he said.
This week, PopCom will highlight the interconnection of population factors and the pandemic.
“Our resiliency against the pandemic and other related crisis situations starts from our decision to form a family. We need to consider our preparedness and capabilities to provide each member their physical, social, emotional, and other pertinent needs,” Perez said.
As observed from trends and patterns of COVID-19 infections in the country, PopCom said community transmissions are still pervasive in cities with close congregations of people.
“Physical distancing — a critical health and safety protocol being implemented by the government — has proven to be difficult to implement among households of small residential units with an average of less than 20 sq. m., and having more than four members,” PopCom said.
Basically less people means less sick people during a pandemic. A very slick way to encourage population reduction.
Shoppers crowded the streets of Divisoria in Manila and Baclaran in Parañaque over the weekend to beat the Christmas rush. Social distancing rules were ignored. The DOH's statement about the matter was rather interesting.
Wearing a face mask and face shield will not be enough to protect a person from COVID-19 in a crowded place, the Department of Health said Monday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire issued the reminder in response to crowding of people in Divisoria, Manila and in Baclaran in Pasay City in light of people doing Christmas shopping.
“We saw your photos last weekend, how crowded. We want to remind our countrymen, the [COVID-19] virus is still there. The virus is transmitted when you are in a really crowded place, ”Vergeire said in an online briefing.
"Even if you are wearing a mask and face shield but you are going to a crowded place that you are almost close to, you can still be infected," Vergeire added.
Vergeire said the Inter Agency Task Force, which is the policy-making body of the government on COVID-19 response, is not allowing mass gathering precisely because of the huge risk of community transmission in such a setting.
“The risk is there. So avoid going to crowded places if possible, ”Vergeire said.
"The risk of airborne infection is enormous when we get to crowded places like what happened last weekend," Vergeire added.
The DOH admits that face masks and face shields do not protect people from the virus in crowded areas. Why would they do so in non-crowded areas?
With the oncoming Christmas season the ODH is expecting a surge of COVID-19 cases.
Government is bracing for a possible surge in coronavirus infections as the holiday season approaches, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said late Monday night.
In President Rodrigo Duterte's weekly meeting with the coronavirus task force, the health chief said contingency measures will be up in the event that the said possibility takes place.
(DOH will be coming up with a contingency plan in the event of a post-holiday season surge in the number of cases. While the infections are slowing down, this shouldn't mean that we will be lax or complacent.)
The health department earlier today warned the public that flocking to crowded places even with face mask and shield on could still lead to infections.
It's more blaming the public for the spread of the virus even though the majority do follow protocol.
Dutetrte's response to the pandemic, and it is Duterte calling the shots, has been militaristic. So of course he needs a healthy military and police force to combat the pandemic.
Once the COVID-19 vaccine is available and ready for distribution in the Philippines, soldiers and the police should be among those given priority to be inoculated, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night.
Duterte in a public briefing, echoed his past statements for prioritizing police and military personnel when the country's vaccination starts, which may happen in May 2021.
"I need a healthy military and police kasi kapag magkasakit lahat 'yan, wala na ako maasahan, wala tayo mautusan," said the President, who heavily leans on retired military and police officers to lead government agencies.
Duterte called for understanding, saying the uniformed personnel are the "errand boys" of the public, citing their recent rescue efforts after consecutive typhoons barreled through the country.
"Kita naman ninyo 'yung baha sa Luzon. Kita ninyo military, Coast Guard, lahat na pumupunta doon, at pulis. And then they have to take care of the law and order situation. Huwag na ninyo masyado pahirapan 'yung pulis, wala naman kayong gawin. Matulog na lang kayo kaysa mag-inuman diyan tas magkagulo," he said.
The PNP and the AFP will be given priority when a vaccination comes. But how exactly do they fight the virus? By arresting people who don't wear masks?
The government's plan to vaccinate people is not necessarily to vaccinate everyone.
Inoculating more than half of the country's population against the coronavirus will be enough to create "herd immunity" but minimum health standards should still be observed, an infectious disease expert said Wednesday.
The Philippines plans to spend P73.2 billion to vaccinate 60 million Filipinos, officials earlier said.
A high efficacy rate is needed to immunize fewer Filipinos, according to Dr. Rontgene Solante, head of adult infectious disease at the San Lazaro Hospital.
(With that you’ll be able to achieve more than 50 percent of the population that will create an immunity even to those who have not received the vaccine because majority of the population is developing antibody so the virus can't spread.)
(We should still implement health protocols while we inoculate the public.)
Even though they plan to vaccinate only half the population it will sell be a monumental task which will take 3-5 years.
It will take three to five years before the Philippines can vaccinate its target of 60 million Filipinos against COVID-19, vaccine czar and pandemic response chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday.
“We will do this in a three- to five-year period kasi po ang kaya lang natin ma-vaccinate is more or less 20 to 30 million a year,” Galvez said in a televised briefing.
(We will do this in a three to five year period because we can only vaccinate more or less 20 to 30 million in a year.)
3 to 5 years. With the logistics involved and the need for cold storage which does not exist in the Philippines it might end up being a nightmare.
