More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The term “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19 still applies to those who got the two-dose primary series of vaccination, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, Sept. 13.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. did not approve to redefine the term or to include the first booster shot in its definition, said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.
“We have already recommended this to the President. And the President advised us na ‘wag muna (not to do it for now) because it’s going to cause more confusion, especially now that marami na tayong polisiya na pinapalabas (we have several policies being released),” said Vergeire in a press briefing.
“Sabi nya (He said), let’s intensify our efforts to improve vaccination on the ground. Baka mas mahikayat pa natin sila (Maybe we can encourage them more) by doing the incentive and disincentive scheme,” she added.
The easing of face mask rules in uncrowded outdoor spaces will not lead to a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, pandemic monitor OCTA Research predicted on Tuesday, citing case trends in countries with similar masking policies.
“We’re not expecting a major surge with this [Executive Order No. 3],” OCTA fellow Guido David told reporters a day after the new mask mandate took effect.
“With sufficient population protection, we believe that this EO will not significantly harm the population. We have enough vaccines … and what we are seeing in other countries is that they might see an uptick, but it eventually decreased,” he added, citing infection trends seen in Singapore and South Korea, where masking had also become voluntary.
The country may see a rise in cases but it will “not reach the same level” as when daily infections soared to nearly 40,000 cases during the Omicron surge in January, David said at an online briefing.
OCTA urged the government to define a “set of triggers” that would prompt reimposing the wearing of face masks outdoors should a serious surge in cases happen.
“We also believe that local governments, in their attempt to implement this new executive order, will need guidance from the Department of Health as to when to encourage our citizens to wear masks,” another OCTA fellow, Ranjit Rye, said.
But Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the officer in charge of the DOH, said that might be unnecessary, since the government is already regularly monitoring COVID-19 indicators nationwide anyway.
“When we reach the point where indicators have increased, such as admissions in hospitals, severe and critical cases as well as deaths, rightfully, the policy will be revised and discussed within the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) and [that will] be recommended to the President,” she said in her news briefing.
That is quite the about face.
The WHO says the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. The DOH agrees.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/845051/doh-also-sees-end-of-covid-19-pandemic-but-reiterates-virus-will-stay/story/ |
Similar to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said it also sees the end of the coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines but reiterated that the virus is here to stay.
“If we look at it here in the Philippines, I personally, and even the Department feels that we are seeing that it may be ending,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.
The WHO on Wednesday said the end of the pandemic is in sight and that countries around the globe have never been in a better position to end it as it observed that the number of new cases dropped dramatically.
However, Vergeire reiterated that the country should be prepared even if the pandemic will someday end as the virus is here to stay.
“Expectedly, it will still cause outbreaks every now and then. Expectedly, it will still cause one to two deaths or some deaths every now and then because COVID-19 will not disappear, it will remain,” she said.
“What we need to do, strengthen our system, strengthen the immunity of the population, make our facilities ready so that if we reach that point, we are prepared, we are not worried, we are protected,” she added.
Of course the virus will remain. Everyone has acknowledged that reality by now. The problem is the fear mongering of the DOH and OCTA who act like we have to be locked up forever in masks.
Funny that the DOH Officer-in-Charge is optimistic but Dr. Rontgene M. Solante who also works for the DOH says they death rate is too high right now.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1666740/end-of-pandemic-not-yet-applicable-to-ph-as-expert-notes-high-covid-death-rates |
Dr. Rontgene M. Solante said during an interview during the Laging Handa briefing on Monday that he still cannot see the perspective of the pandemic nearing its end when talking about the Philippine setup, due to community transmissions still occurring.
“All of the WHO regions are already reporting a significant decrease in the number of new cases and the number of new deaths. Now, the question is, are the same scenarios happening in the country?” Solante asked in Filipino.
“So now I cannot see the same scenario, right? Because although our COVID-19 cases now are lower compared to last January or September last year, we still have community transmissions, especially with this BA.5 variant,” he added.
He also noted that high death rates, according to data from the WHO where the Philippines ranks fifth in terms of new deaths per week, is an indication that the pandemic is not close to its end in the country — at least not in the next two to three months.
“We also see the data of the WHO, where the Philippines is fifth globally, reporting new deaths on a weekly basis last week. So this means that if we can actually see the end of the pandemic, it would not happen within the next two or three months because our cases are still high,” Solante noted.
“And in fact with our data now, several regions are considered under moderate risk, although health care utilization is not that high, it remains low,” he added.
The good doctor gives no context for what it means that the Philippines is 5th globally in reporting new deaths. Who is dying and from what causes? That is important information the authorities always omit. However the data always comes out and here it is.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1184099 |
The Philippines has recorded an average of only three Covid-19 deaths per day this month so far, lower than the 17 fatalities daily count in August, a health official said Tuesday.
In a media briefing, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said current data may still show 200 confirmed deaths per day due to delay in reporting.
“We have been transparent on this, sinasabi namin sa inyo na mayroon tayong (we tell you that there are) delays in our reporting of deaths because deaths are still being validated on the ground,” she said.
“Our case fatality up until now is still 1.6 percent. It never went over 2 percent, we are able to keep the deaths in our country at that minimum,” she added.
While the country’s Covid-19 deaths remain low, Vergeire said the DOH does not want any fatality due to the infection to happen as the agency tries to prevent deaths and severe and critical cases through vaccination.
The state of calamity has been extended until the end of the year.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1183722 |
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday welcomed President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.'s move to extend the country's state of calamity due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
In a statement, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said the three-month extension of the state of calamity will give the national government and the local government units (LGUs) more time to carry out economic, social, and health interventions as Filipinos continue to adapt to the new normal and the challenges brought by the pandemic.
“With this extension, we commit to continue to shepherd our local government units (LGUs) to sustain their efforts in mitigating and preventing the spread of Covid-19 in their respective localities and to ensure the safety and protection of their constituents against the virus,” Abalos said in a statement.
He also enjoined LGUs to utilize appropriate funds, including the Quick Response Fund, to address the immediate needs of their constituents and speed up their Covid-19 vaccination and booster drive to "strengthen our nation’s wall of immunity".
Abalos also said the DILG will remain committed to assisting LGUs in providing efficient, timely, and appropriate Covid-19 response and services to protect the Filipino people during this "critical period".
Will they extend the state of calamity again? More than likely!
Let's end with a story that can be placed in a number of articles on this blog.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/21/22/cops-halt-martial-law-film-showing-cite-social-distancing-violations |
Police officers in plainclothes ordered organizers to stop a martial law film exhibition at a barangay in Pasay City on Tuesday.
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel on Wednesday said the law enforcers went to a covered court in Barangay 178 where the event was being held told them that Malacañang wouldn't like what they were doing.
"The reason why it was halted was that the person at Malacañang would dislike it," Manuel, citing the organizers of the event, said in ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.
But Pasay Police Chief Byron Tabernilla belied the accusation and said the film showing was stopped because of social distancing violations.
Manuel responded by saying that the police were just looking for reasons.
"Police's claim was false because 5 agents of its intelligence unit came to the venue despite the fact that organizers had secured a permit from the barangay," he said.
"Then they took a video of the event and there was one officer who brandished his gun to intimidate the attendees and other media personnel."
The Pasay police have yet to issue a statement about the brandishing, but Manuel said they secured photos and videos that would prove their claim.
The PNP says they shut down a screening of a martial law film because of social distancing issues and the organizers say the came in with guns blazing because Marcos would not like it! I won't even determine to say who is right and who is wrong but so many birthday parties and other events have happened with prominent officials who have disregarded mask and social distancing rules that it is safe to say the cops are lying. In any case this story falls squarely in the category of how the nation is dealing with COVID-19 so I am relating it here.
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