More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Some towns have gone on hard lockdowns but Antique has been placed under a "courtesy lockdown."
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1136057 |
The implementation of the "courtesy lockdown" in Antique went smoothly as the locals showed their support to the measure to curb the rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the province.
The acceptance and compliance of the residents were noted as the Antique Provincial Health Office recorded 50 new confirmed cases increasing the total active cases of the province to 229 as of Wednesday.
The new cases brought to 383 the total cumulative cases, with 146 recoveries and eight deaths.
It was the second day that the province reported 50 new infections.
Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) information officer Executive Master Sergeant Rossinni Mena, in an interview, said since the chiefs of police (COPs) in the 18 municipalities of the province established their checkpoints for the courtesy lockdown beginning April 5-19, they did not encounter any indignant reactions from the public.
“The people were cooperative with the municipal police personnel,” she said.
What is a "courtesy lockdown?" Is that when the PNP politely tell you to wear a mask instead of exercising you to death?
Contract tracing is rather difficult. Jokers who write down their names as Adolf Hitler and Spongebob Squarepants do not make it any easier.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/782847/hitler-spongebob-on-forms-not-making-making-covid-19-contact-tracing-easier/story/ |
With a lot fewer than the ideal number of contact tracers, many close contacts of confirmed or suspect COVID-19 cases are being left uninformed of the danger they're potentially facing.
According to Lilian Tiburico’s report on “Stand for Truth”, contact tracer Holly Gabrielle Dela Paz said the sheer number of contact forms at business establishments made it impossible for her and her fellow tracers.
[Can we trace everyone at a mall after a customer turns out positive for COVID-19? No, we can’t.]
[Sometimes, people don’t put their real information. I read the name Adolf Hitler once and Spongebob. Could we trace that? Sometimes there’s also no contact number.]
Dr. Herbert Docena, an assistant professor of the University of the Philippines, said a contact tracer told him as much when he tested positive for COVID-19.
He wanted to make sure even his close contacts at a supermarket were informed.
[They effectively said that I shouldn’t bother because they would be unable to contact everyone.]
Worse, Docena said even the close contacts whom he knew were also never called.
Tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said that the country’s contact tracing level had decreased.
From the previous 1: 7 ratio average in January, the ratio decreased to 1:3. This means that only three close contacts are traced per the COVID-19 patient.
[It’s a budgetary issue. Even though we want it, even though the Department of Local Government wants more contact tracers, this is the limit of our budget.]
From the previous 50,000 contact tracers, only 15,000 were re-hired by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The country needs 135,000 contact tracers.
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/07/21/120-psg-rodrigo-duterte-presidential-guards-positive-covid19-coronavirus |
The Presidential Security Team said on Wednesday 126 of its members recently caught COVID-19, but were "not directly or closely detailed" with President Rodrigo Duterte, who cancelled his public address this week.
"Recently, we had 126 cases," PSG Commander Jesus Durante III said, when asked how many in his team were infected with the novel coronavirus.
(But some were cleared during quarantine so we are down to 45 active cases.)
PSG personnel sickened with COVID-19 were "manning our gates" and are "exposed daily to the local populace," said Duran.
"At the least, our PSG personnel who got infected are not directly or closely detailed with the President and are all asymptomatic without experiencing any adverse symptom. Hence, rest assured that the President is safe and in good health," he added in a statement.
Duterte las year said some members of the PSG took unauthorized COVID-19 shots from Chinese state firm Sinopharm.
It was not immediately clear whether the PSG members who caught COVID-19 included those who took the Sinopharm vaccine.
The PSG in't the only group who received vaccines but has still gotten infected.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1136217 |
Two medical front-liners in Negros Oriental who previously received their first dose of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine tested positive of infection.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Liland Estacion said she still has to validate the brand of vaccine administered to these front-liners.
In a virtual press briefing Thursday afternoon, Estacion, also health committee chair of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said she will also look into a third front-liner who was also reported positive for Covid-19 whether that person also received the jab.
“I will also verify on which brand of the vaccine was given to them,” she added.
Vaccine manufacturers have said that the jabs do not guarantee against infection but are highly efficient in preventing severe illness and death.
If vaccines are not a guarantee against infection then why get the shot? The promise is that they would stop the spread of the disease not prevent sever effects of the disease.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1136460 |
Despite the admission made by China's top disease control official that the efficacy of their country's Covid-19 vaccines is low, Malacañang is standing by the government’s purchase of China-made vaccines.
Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Gao Fu on Saturday admitted that China-made vaccines offer low protection against Covid-19.
However, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque insisted that China-made vaccines still provide protection against severe Covid-19 and deaths.
Reports show that China currently has five vaccines in use in its mass immunization campaign with an efficacy rate that ranges from just over 50 percent to 79 percent, based on what the companies have said.
“Assuming na tama nga yung 50 percent efficacy rate, ang ini-explain naman ng mga doktor paulit-ulit na ‘yan (Assuming it’s correct that it only has a 50 percent efficacy rate, doctors have repeatedly explained) that’s still a guarantee against serious illness or even death because of Covid-19. And that’s why okay pa rin po siyang proteksyon (it is still okay for protection),” Roque said in a virtual Palace press briefing.
That's not very confidence inspiring at all and it belies what the vaccine is supposed to do which is to prevent those who take it from getting infected.
People are still clamoring for ivermectin prompting the FDA to grant a compassionate special use permit for one hospital. Despite the WHO pleading to not use ivermectin to treat COVID-19 because there is no evidence it is effective some groups in the Philippines want to commence clinical trials.
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/10/21/distribution-firms-seek-local-clinical-trials-before-fda-on-ivermectin-use-for-covid-19-treatment |
Two distribution firms have expressed interest to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in conducting local clinical trials for the use of anti-parasitic drug ivermectin in treating COVID-19.
In a statement, IP Biotech Inc. (IPB) and Ambica International, Inc. (Ambica), said "a number of physicians" in the country have already recommended ivermectin for COVID-19.
IP Biotech is the same company that represents Sinovac in the country, which was also pushed for emergency use.
"The antiparasitic [drug] has been used empirically for the treatment of outpatients and hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Honduras and in other regions of the world," the statement read.
However, infectious diseases expert Dr. Edsel Salvana earlier said that the supposed effectivity of ivermectin in helping to ease the respiratory disease is not backed by data despite more people advocating for the drug.
Hopefully the reckless use of an unproven drug at the behest of the FDA will not result in anyone's deaths. The same cannot be said for lockdown curfews as another man has died at the hands of ruthless authorities for violating curfew.
Another curfew violator has died in Calamba, Laguna after he was allegedly beaten up by a team of barangay tanod.
According to the police report, witnesses said the victim Ernanie Lumban was repeatedly beaten up by the barangay’s quick response team after being arrested for violating curfew rules in Purok 2, Barangay Turbina, Calamba City, Laguna.
In a Facebook post, activist group Anakbayan Calamba explained that the victim went outside at around 10p.m. on April 7 to buy food when he was arrested by Barangay tanods for violating curfew rules.
According to Anakbayan Calamba, Jimenez obliged peacefully when he was arrested. However, after asking if he could go to the bathroom, the barangay tanods snapped at Jimenez which made him run out of fear.
When he was caught again, the tanods allegedly beat Jimenez up where he sustained numerous bruises, wounds, and a broken skull.
The victim was then rushed to Calamba Medical Center (CMC) and was refused treatment, Anakbayan said.
Charges have been filed against the two men but that won't bring Jimenez back from the dead.
Hospitals in Manila are full and many are having a hard time getting the care they need. One family even had to give up their land title because they could not pay for coverage as the hospital downgraded their COVID-19 package. Yet somehow when Harry Roque contracted COVID-19 he was able to find a room right away. When asked about this he dismissed the question as being "un-Christian."
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/12/21/harry-roque-covid-hospital-confinement-response |
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said on Monday it was “un-Christian” for him to be questioned about how he secured hospital care during his second bout with COVID-19, as infections swamped facilities and forced other patients to wait in line for days.
Roque on Saturday said he was admitted to a hospital "at the right time since pneumonia was caught early on." He said that though he felt "better after only one vial of remdesivir and steroids," he would be confined until Thursday.
Asked how he secured a hospital room while some patients reportedly died while waiting for admission, Roque said, “With all due respect… I think that’s an un-Christian question.”
(My only assurance is during the term of President Duterte, all those who have medical needs will be given help.)
The health department on Monday declined to comment on the alleged prioritization of Roque.
Imagine being called un-christian by Harry Roque who is not the model of sainthood. The answer, obviously, is that Roque was given priority and moved to the head of the line. Why not just admit it? It's not as if the people can even do anything about it.
ECQ is over and a group of doctors says the government wasted it because they still have no plan. The DOH disputes that assessment. However vaccine czar Galvez belies the DOH by saying the government is expecting another surge in June.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1418299/galvez-govt-preparing-for-another-possible-covid-19-surge-mid-2021 |
The government is preparing for the “worse” or for when the country experiences another surge in COVID-19 cases in June or July, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Tuesday.
“We have to expect na this coming June and July, baka magkaroon na naman tayo ng peaking or surge,” Galvez said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
(We have to expect that this coming June and July, we might have another peaking or surge.)
Galvez said they are planning for the surge in urbanized areas like Metro Manila, Cebu and Bacolod City where a “cycle” of infections was observed during the pandemic’s onset last year.
If they are planning for more surges then why have the lockdowns? Why not plan on the cycles and work that out?
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/14/21/asthma-drug-budesonide-legal-to-use-on-covid-19-patients-fda |
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday said COVID-19 patients may use asthma drug budesonide to alleviate difficulties in breathing as long as it is prescribed by their doctors.
Budesonide is "an old drug" that is already registered in the Philippines, FDA Director General Eric Domingo told state broadcaster PTV.
"Hindi ito bagong gamot... pero depende po yan sa doktor," he said.
(This is not a new drug but it depends on the doctor.)
"Kung nakikita nila na kailangan ito ng kanilang pasyente at kung makakatulong ito sa kanila, then maaari nilang gamitin ang gamot," he said.
(If doctors think that this could help their patients or if their patients need this, then they can use the drug.)
The steroid budesonide appears to reduce the need for hospitalizations as well as recovery time for COVID-19 patients, according to a study from Oxford University.
Initial data from the study also found volunteers treated with budesonide had a quicker resolution of fever and fewer persistent symptoms.
- That sounds like the effects of the vaccine. Not a cure-all but simply a mitigator.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1417085/central-visayas-officials-assail-pcoo-pgcs-discriminatory-central-visayas-variant-tag |
Government officials here deplored the act of two national agencies calling the new COVID-19 variant in the country as the “Central Visayas variant.”
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson and chief pathologist of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), described as “discriminatory and lack of courtesy” a social media post of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) on Tuesday that named the Central Visayas variant as among the COVID-19 variants that infected many Filipinos.
“It seems that the region was singled out with the rest of the country. Central Visayas is not distant to the Philippines,” she said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“You cannot discriminately label or mislabel whatever variants of concern there is and specifically point it out to Central Visayas,” she added.
Loreche also demanded an explanation from the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) where the PCOO got the details of what it posted on social media.
In its post on Facebook, the PCOO said there are four COVID-19 variants that affect the country, namely the United Kingdom variant which infected 237 persons, the South Africa variant (163 cases), the Central Visayas variant (104 cases), and the Brazil variant (one case) as of April 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment