Coronavirus Lockdown: Prolonged ECQ Did Not Work, Cemetery for COVID-19 Victims, and More!

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

If you are wearing a cloth face mask the DOH says they don't offer any protection against COVID-19.

https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/health-and-family/2021/08/18/2120867/doh-avoid-cloth-mask-no-face-mask-kids-below-2

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosette Vergeire advised the public today to avoid using cloth face masks in view of rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

DOH-TAG (Technical Advisory Group) member Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim, however, said that if there is no medical grade mask or surgical mask, wearing two cloth masks could be a an option.

Meanwhile, DOH also advised parents not to put face masks on children younger than two years old, citing a possible choking hazard. 

In a Palace briefing, Vergeire yesterday that a face shield will do if there is a need to go outside. 

Now the DOH is advising us to wear two masks if we cannot avail of a surgical mask? The fact is masks don't really protect one from the virus either. 

The rotating lockdowns continue in the Philippines to the detriment of the economy. One American credit rating system says the Philippines needs to address this problem.

https://www.panaynews.net/ph-told-to-address-cycle-of-lockdowns-to-boost-recovery/

The cycle of lockdowns in the Philippines remains a threat to its economic recovery, Fitch Solutions said Tuesday, after it lowered its outlook for the country this year. 

Fitch Solutions is monitoring the government’s response to the pandemic, Senior Country Risk analyst Michael Langham told ANC. 

“In early 2022 I think the situation will remain broadly similar to this year until the Philippines can come out of this cycle of lockdowns and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks, the economy isn’t really going to get on track,” Langham said. 

“That’s something we’re watching, how quickly the authorities can get out of this cycle,” he added.

Metro Manila is currently under its third lockdown since the pandemic due to the recent surge and the emergence of the more contagious COVID-19 Delta variant. The restriction is in place until Aug. 20. 

Experts have earlier flagged possible extensions that could be detrimental to recovery.

It likely will not be the case that the cycle of lockdowns ends anytime soon. Sure Manila is reverting to MECQ but that does not mean the lockdown is over.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1151178

The Philippine National Police is prepared to help local government units implement granular lockdowns as the National Capital Region (NCR) has been placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from Aug. 21 to 31.

PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar urged the public not to let their guard down as the threat of coronavirus disease 2019(Covid-19), especially its more infectious variants, is still present.

“I have tasked police chiefs to prepare their men for this (granular lockdowns),” he said in a statement.

Granular lockdown calls for a particular establishment, street, or barangay with a high incidence of infection to be placed under lockdown instead of a region- or city-wide clamp.

Now lockdowns will be on a street by street or brandy by barangay basis. Meanwhile Mandaue has enacted stricter lockdown rules until the Mayor decides to lift them.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/395178/mandaue-adopts-stricter-protocols-in-bid-to-curve-covid-19-transmissions

The Mandaue City Government has implemented stricter protocols in a bid to slow down the spread of COVID-19. 

Mayor Jonas Cortes on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, issued Executive Order no. 27 series of 2021 enforcing a heightened state of modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

The EO took effect immediately and will be in place until such time a new EO is released.

This EO limits people's movements and restricts those who would enter the city. 

With the hysteria surrounding the Delta variant and its official arrival and local transmission future lockdowns are a given.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/21/2121624/doh-finally-concedes-there-may-be-community-transmission-delta-variant

After weeks of denying that there is community transmission of the Delta variant in the country, the Department of Health finally conceded Saturday that the more infectious coronavirus variant may have reached that level of transmission. 

(Based on the samples that we see and the results coming from the Philippine Genome Center, it looks like community transmission is there.)

This is a marked departure from the DOH’s previous statements that tend to reject notions that there is community transmission of the Delta variant, as there was supposedly not enough evidence to prove this.

It really should not come as a surprise that the DOH now affirms what it t first denied. That is how the entire "pandemic" has been happening around the world.

The pandemic continues to breed fraud. From "pandemic aid fixers" to fake COVID-19 testing labs.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/08/22/2121700/3-caught-illegal-covid-19-test-lab

Three persons were arrested for allegedly running an illegal COVID-19 testing laboratory in Manila, police said yesterday. 

Agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group raided Swab Express Medical Health Services in Sampaloc at around 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, according to CIDG director Maj Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro. 

Dave Robles, 28; Chinky Robles, 26, and Alma Consuelo, 51 were arrested and are being held on charges of violating Republic Act 4688 or the  Clinical Laboratory Law.

Ferro said they received information the suspects were involved in the unauthorized administration of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests. 

Verification with the Department of Health revealed Swab Express is not an authorized testing laboratory.

Policemen posing as customers who were swabbed at the laboratory arrested the suspects. 

The suspects yielded 11 boxes of COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits from Sansure Biotech and Joinstar, two consent forms, an official receipt and two laptops.

Ferro said the suspects are said to be members of a group involved in illegal COVID-19 testing.

A group of people doing illegal testing? Why? And how are they obtaining the test kits? Maybe the government should make testing free in order to stop this problem.

Lockdowns have been rotating all across the nation for over a year now. Health Secretary Duque says the recent prolonged lockdowns in certain regions "did not work."

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/800420/duque-prolonged-ecq-in-regions-7-10-did-not-work/story/

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday said the prolonged lockdown or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in certain areas are not working.

Duque made the disclosure when he said that he had to leave the Go Negosyo forum earlier than the rest of the participants due to an emergency meeting.

"I have an emergency meeting with DOH (Department of Health) regional directors of Region 7 (Central Visayas) and Northern Mindanao because despite the prolonged ECQ, there seems to be no improvement," Duque said

"It is really troubling, to say the least," Duque added.

Iloilo City, Iloilo province, Cagayan de Oro City and Gingoog in Misamis Oriental have been placed under ECQ from July 16 to August 7.

In an interview on ANC, COVID-19 treatment czar Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said cases have been increasing in several regions, including Regions 7 and 10.

"I think we have seen a general trend across the country in terms of the increase in the number of active and new cases and this is very specific for Region 1, 2, and most in Region 3, 4A, and the NCR and Region 7 and Region 10," he said.

You know waht's really troubling? Is that this admission came out incidentally. Why can't the DOH be truthful with the public about the lockdowns? Why keep lying to the public?

You know what else they are lying about? That there is an actual pandemic with a deadly virus floating around. The statistics do not bear that out.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/23/21/98-pct-of-covid-cases-mild-moderate-asymptomatic

About 98 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country are either asymptomatic or only show mild and moderate symptoms, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said Monday. 

“We’re seeing roughly about almost 98 percent mild moderate and asymptomatics for these COVID cases. We’d seen the numbers of about 1.86 percent for the severe and critical [cases],” he said.

“This is kinda different from what we saw in April and last year when it was hovering about three percent for the severe and the critical,” he added. 

This is great news that belies the fear mongering of not only the administration of the Philippines but every other government including the USA and Australia. It also seems taht the Delta variant is not as deadly as we are being told.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1151335

Health authorities have detected 466 additional cases of the more transmissible Delta variant for a total tally of 1,273, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday. 

One is still active, eight cases have died, while 457 cases are tagged as recovered. 

Of the additional variant cases, 442 are local cases, 14 are returning overseas Filipino (ROF), and 10 cases are currently being verified if local or ROF cases. 

In a statement, the DOH said that aside from the Delta variant, there were also new confirmed cases of the Alpha variant (90), Beta (105), and Theta (41), based on the latest whole-genome sequencing report by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center and the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health. 

Of the 442 local cases, 201 cases had indicated addresses in the National Capital Region (NCR), while 69 cases are from Central Luzon, seven in Cagayan Valley, 49 in Calabarzon, 14 in Mimaropa, four in the Bicol Region, 52 in Western Visayas, 19 in Central Visayas, six in Northern Mindanao, 11 in Davao Region, seven in Soccsksargen, and three in the Ilocos Region.

The fact is as of this writing there have been only 32,264 deaths with 1.87 million cases.  With 108 million people that is .02% of the population dead and 1.7% of the population infected with only 1.7% of those infected dying. Yet we are told this its a very deadly pandemic and we must all be afraid. One town in Antique is taking the fear to the next level by building a cemetery exclusively for those who have died of COVID-19.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1151487

This capital town is ready to accommodate the interment of those who died of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at its new memorial cemetery being constructed at the Binirayan Hills in Barangay 8.

The construction of the PHP34.8 million memorial cemetery is still ongoing but the remains of four Covid-19 victims have already been interred in the completed niches last month.

“Because of the urgent request of families whose loved ones had died due to Covid-19, we already allowed the entombment on the finished niches,” said Darcy Bungay, Municipal Economic Enterprise and Development Officer (MEEDO), in an interview on Tuesday.

Once completed, the cemetery, which is constructed in the 6,000-square meter lot owned by the local government, will have a chapel, 59 mausoleum lots, 97 family plots or below the ground burial plots, and 1,446 niches.

It started construction in February 2021 and is expected to be completed next year.

A few things to note here. This cemetery began construction in February 2021 and but it was not until March 3rd 2021 that the second death from COVID-19 was recorded with the first death being in September 2020. So far, as of this writing, a grand total of 32 people have died from the disease out of 830 cases. Yet here they are building a cemetery for COVID-19 victims and saying it won't be completed until next year. Just how long do they expect to keep this pandmeic nonsense going? With the spaces for 1,602 corpses and the slow rate of deaths it's going to take decades for this place to fill up.