More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The private sector is now being encouraged to employ only vaccinated people.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/807753/galvez-hiring-only-applicants-vaccinated-vs-covid-19-not-discrimination/story/ |
There is no discrimination if a company will refuse employment to an applicant who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccine czar and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Wednesday.
Galvez made the remark after the private sector suggested to the Inter-Agency Task Force Against Emerging Infectious Diseases incentives for vaccinated individuals.
These include giving companies the right to hire only those who have been vaccinated. Employees who have yet to be inoculated have been suggested to be tested weekly at their own expense.
“It is the prerogative of companies to hire, train, promote and fire employees,” Galvez said in a text message when asked if allowing companies not to hire unvaccinated people would be among the measures to incentivize vaccination.
On whether it discriminated against those who have yet to get vaccinated, Galvez said, “It is not discrimination but the moral and corporate responsibility of the company to protect its people, clients, consumers and business interest."
"Public interest is higher than personal interest,” Galvez said.
“The principle of recruitment is to get the best among the qualified. The company has the right to choose and reject applications. Why will you choose [someone] that will become a threat to your existence?” he added.
“In the next round of battle, the next round of surge will be the battle of the unvaccinated which will become the state’s liability and weakness in our fight against COVID-19," Galvez said.
"They are the burden that we have to carry on this long battle,” he added.
Galvez said companies having the prerogative to hire or reject an applicant was for “the promotion of public safety and common good.”
“Why hire people who do not accept moral responsibility with the company?” Galvez said.
The unvaccinated are "the burden that we have to carry on this long battle." That is the kind of language that will lead to mandates so that unvaccinated people will be compelled to get the shot. This is despite the virus having an over 90% recovery rate. This is also despite the Philippines not having enough vaccines for everyone just yet. But they are slowly getting there.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157273 |
The Philippines has received more than 91.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with a total of 53,315,069 doses have been administered nationwide, the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 said on Wednesday.
The National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed 28,620,352 were used as first doses while 24,694,717 were given as second doses.
The average daily jabs administered in the last seven days stood at 405,588 doses compared to 420,069 jabs recorded during the previous week.
During President Rodrigo Duterte's taped Talk to the People aired on Tuesday night, NTF chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., reported that larger vaccine deliveries continue to pour in this month.
In October alone, Galvez said the Philippines has received over 20 million doses.
The government, he said, is targeting to scale up the nationwide daily vaccination rate of up to 1.5 million doses to fulfill its promise of "achieving a happy Christmas this year."
It also wants to raise its target vaccination coverage from 70 percent to 90 percent of the country’s eligible population, he added.
"We will be opening the general population, then the pilot of children vaccination, and we are ramping up the vaccination of students, teachers, and tourism personnel, OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), and seafarers," Galvez said.
Will there be a "happy Christmas this year" in the Philippines? Of course. But people had better keep that happiness within their family circle.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808123/halloween-istmas-parties-allowed-within-families-doh/story/ |
The Department of Health on Saturday reminded the public that Halloween and Christmas parties are permitted, as long as these gatherings are done within the "bubble" of their families.
"Mass gatherings are still prohibited, [but those taking place] within the bubble of the family are allowed, but safety protocols needed to be implemented," DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Laging Handa briefing.
Vergeire said the public should avoid being in 3Cs (closed, crowded, close-contact) places.
"I-recognize natin 'yan na 'yan po ang mga pinakamagbibigay ng impeksiyon sa pamilya (We should recognize that these will be the main cause of infection in families)," she said, adding that health protocols must be observed in outdoor gatherings.
"Kung merong may sintomas, huwag na muna tayong mag-attend ng mga ganitong party" (If a person has symptoms, he or she should not join parties), Vergeire said.
Apparently this does not apply to politicians because Sara Duterte and others flew to Cebu to attend the birthday party of Rep. Yedda Romualdez.
Apparently relaxing quarantine restrictions in the NCR has revealed just how stir crazy everyone is after being cooped up for weeks. People are flocking in droves to Duterte's Dolomite Beach to see the amazing whitewash job his administration has done. This has caused the Palace to warn that the beach could turn into a super spreader event.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1506185/potential-superspreader-event-palace-warns-vs-complacency-amid-manila-dolomite-beach-frenzy |
Malacanang on Monday warned the public against complacency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic amid reports of crowding and disregard of health protocols at the dolomite beach in Manila Bay.
During his press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque reminded parents that children are still not allowed to go out of their homes, and their as outdoor activities would have to concern only essential undertakings.
(First of all, children are only allowed outside for essential activities, so they cannot really move out for leisurely trips and for travel.)
(So first of all, we are calling on the public to remember that we are still under a pandemic, even if our daily cases have started decreasing, COVID-19 is still present so we should not be complacent.)
Roque’s reminder came as several government agencies — from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to the Department of Health (DOH) issued a warning after the massive crowding that was observed at the Manila Baywalk’s dolomite beach in the past two weekends.
On Sunday, there were reports that authorities have recorded over 4,000 individuals at the dolomite beach — which seats on one section of the rehabilitated Manila Bay. The dolomite beach, a project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is being promoted as a possible tourist spot.
The IATF has noted that the overcrowding of the beach violates health protocols. The Manila Police Department says they will deploy more officers to control the crowd. But despite all this worry the DENR says they will not be closing the beach.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/808268/denr-rules-out-closing-dolomite-beach-to-public-amid-pandemic-despite-crowds/story/ |
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) won't close the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach even if it was crowded amid the COVID-19 pandemic over the weekend.
DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda made the position even if throngs of people flocked to the artificial white sand area, raising concerns that this could be a super spreader event.
(We cannot close it down. If we spent so much just to close it, I don't think it will be fair to the Filipino people.)
The Manila Bay Dolomite Beach project, dubbed as beach nourishment, costs P389 million.
Antiporda said since the mass gathering in the area over the weekend, authorities have modified the guidelines to only allow a batch of people to stay in the area for five minutes, after which they will have to leave so the succeeding batch will get to enter.
Likewise, Antiporda said that the DENR and the Manila City government has deployed additional marshalls to ensure that visitors are complying with minimum public health standards such as social distancing and proper wearing of face mask and face shield.
"The dolomite beach was opened to relieve the anxiety of the people amid the pandemic, but we will not permit a super spreader. We are recalibrating our system to ensure the safety of our people," he said.
"We are doing our best to satisfy everybody," Antiporda added.
"If you build it, they will come." Funny that the government is so concerned about telling Filipinos to limit Christmas parties to family members and the DOH is concerned that voting be done in the shortest time possible to prevent infections but the DENR won't shut down this beach. The government also closed cemeteries for Undas but that's no big deal because everyone is going to community with their dead relatives before the closure.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808251/pinoys-flock-to-cemeteries-days-before-these-are-closed-for-undas/story/ |
Some Filipinos trooped to cemeteries over the weekend and early on Monday, days before these are closed for All Saints' Day (Undas).
At the Manila North Cemetery, some visitors went to visit their departed loved ones even before sunrise, according to a report by Darlene Cay on GMA News' Unang Balita on Monday.
They said they wanted to make sure they could visit before cemeteries are closed on Friday.
As of 7:40 a.m. on Monday, 403 people were already allowed to enter Manila North Cemetery, according to a report by Manny Vargas on Dobol B TV.
During these allowable visits, visitors must be limited to 10 persons per group, and the venue must only allow 30% of capacity, though this can be raised to 50% if the local government unit (LGU) authorizes it.
Some local government units are asking the national government that they be allowed to open public cemeteries on October 30 and 31, according to League of Provinces of the Philippines president Marinduque Governor Presibitero Velasco Jr.
At Manila North Cemetery, visitors are screened at the police assistance desk at the entrance.
Senior citizens and minors are not allowed to enter.
Police also confiscate banned items such as pointed sharp objects, flammable items, liquor, sound system for loud music, and gambling items.
Outside the cemetery, flowers and candles were being sold at almost double their usual prices. Vendors said prices may even increase this week closer to All Saints' Day on November 1.
Every Undas cemeteries are left awash in a sea of garbage. Ever since the pandemic began and face masks and shields were imposed upon the people the nation has been awash in a sea of pandemic garbage.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157725 |
The thing is though that Filipinos do not care about anti-littering laws and throw their trash wherever they please. The solution is to get Filipinos to understand that littering is bad.A party-list lawmaker on Monday said there is a need to take “stronger action” to address a new form of pollution induced by the extensive use of surgical face masks and other single-use personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera said the government should craft an action plan that would involve intensified monitoring and enforcement activities by concerned government agencies, such as the Department of Health, the Department of the Interior, and Local Government, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“It’s time that we take the so-called Covid-19 waste pollution seriously. Authorities need to develop and implement an action plan to address this problem before it’s too late,” Herrera said. “These agencies need to tighten up their monitoring efforts to ensure proper handling and disposal of Covid-19 waste, which poses serious risks to public health and the environment.”
Herrera said there is a growing concern over the unprecedented increase in single-use plastics including surgical face masks, face shields and gloves since the pandemic began.
“Beyond causing a deadly respiratory disease, the coronavirus has brought a new, and largely overlooked, threat to human health: more potentially harmful microplastics in the environment, this time from used PPE,” she said.
COVID-19 cases continue to drop. Now the DOH has declared that the Philippines is at low risk for COVID-19.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808275/philippines-now-at-low-risk-classification-for-covid-19-doh/story/ |
The Philippines is now at low-risk classification for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Monday.
In a media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all regions in the country are either at moderate-risk and low-risk classification.
She said the country recorded a negative two-week growth at -48%.
Meanwhile, the average daily attack rate (ADAR) decreased to 5.89 per 100,000 from the previous 11.41.
"Nationally, we are at low-risk case classification with a negative two-week growth rate at -48% and a moderate-risk average daily attack rate at 5.89 cases per every 100,000 individuals," Vergeire said.
Of course it remains to be seen how long that low-risk classification remains in place but it has always been true that number of infected and the number of dead has been minimal compared to the over all population. So far there have been 2.77 million cases with 42,077 deaths. That is 2.5% of the population infected and .03% of the total population and 1.5% of the infected dead. Not a very deadly virus now, is it?
No comments:
Post a Comment