More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
 |
| https://mb.com.ph/2022/12/21/doh-encourages-health-workers-to-take-2nd-covid-19-booster/ |
The Department of Health (DOH) encouraged health workers to receive their second Covid-19 booster shot.
“Among those healthcare workers na hindi pa ho nakakapag second booster shot, tayo po still encouraging them,” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
“We cannot mandate for them to have the second booster and tell them you cannot work. We cannot do that as a precondition,” she added.
Recently, the DOH said that 592,202 health workers in the country have yet to receive their second booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.
However, Vergeire said this number of health workers without a second booster is not yet a cause for concern as of this time.
“As I’ve said the evidence really points that kapag naka first booster shot ka, it gives you more protection,” she said.
“The protection is still there to guard you from having this severe and critical infection,” she added.
At present, the second booster shot is only recommended for health workers, people aged 50 and above, and individuals 18 to 49 years old.
If they can't mandate it and it's not a problem then who cares? Fully vaccinated persons can and do contract COVID. Some even die from it.
Tourism continues to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1707460/baguio-city-surpasses-pre-pandemic-levels-of-tourist-arrivals |
The number of tourist arrivals in Baguio City this year has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, an official said Wednesday.
Baguio tourism officer Alec Mapalo said tourist arrivals in the city have so far reached 1.7 million this year, and this does not yet include tourist arrivals in November and December.
This is already higher than the 1.5 million tourists recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.
(This just shows that we are surpassing pre-pandemic levels, and we see the desire of Filipinos to travel.)
However, even though tourist arrivals are skyrocketing, Mapalo said the city is still recovering its losses in two years of lockdowns and restrictions due to the pandemic.
He said tourism is one of the major industries in Baguio City, wherein it rakes in up to P7 billion in gross receipts per year.
(Let’s just imagine the amount we lost for two years. At this point, we are still in the recovery stage. We have not yet fully recovered the losses from the previous years.)
The Baguio official, however, expressed optimism that the city’s recovery rate can be expedited based on the current trends in tourist arrivals and traffic in its shopping centers.
(Many hotels and even malls have reported to us that they have already reached a record high, not only in arrivals of guests but also food traffic in shopping centers compared to 2019 before the pandemic.)
(We are confident that we can quicken our road to recovery.)
But of course even though the pandemic is over and even the president has rescinded the face mask mandate tourists are advised to wear face masks and observe other precautions.
 |
| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1191307 |
With the increase in tourist arrivals as Christmas nears, Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Thursday reminded anew residents and tourists that the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) remains a threat so there is the need to continue observing the minimum public health standards.“We still have the pandemic so we still have to be conscious of our protocols –wearing of masks, especially in congested areas, indoors and at the same time, we want you to enjoy,” Magalong said in a media interview.Baguio remains under a low-risk category of Covid-19 despite a spike in tourist arrivals.
It seems as if they want tourists to jumpstart the economy but are so worried that everyone will die if too many tourists arrive. It's downright schizophrenic.
Speaking of tourism one politician has a brilliant idea on how to revive the industry: increase the travel allowances of local executives.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1708725/increasing-lgu-execs-travel-money-can-help-boost-tourism-salceda |
Local government officials can indeed help boost local tourism — especially if they are given more travel money.
The idea came from Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who noted that the domestic travel allowances of local officials were last updated years ago and that the value of the peso had shrunk since then.
Giving them an increase now “will boost domestic tourism, which suffered scarring effects due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Salceda said in a statement on Saturday. “The increase in rates will help boost our meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions or MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) scene, which suffered structural losses due to the pandemic.”
The adjustments can be made in their daily travel allowance, representation, and transportation allowances (RATA) and per diem rates, he added.
Salceda, who chairs the House committee on ways and means, directed his appeal at the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
“The increase should be sourced from LGU (local government unit) revenues so that it does not affect our limited national government fiscal space. But it should be done,” he stressed.
The nation has gotten along well enough without those MICE meetings for the past two years. Perhaps they are not necessary. And where would the increase in travel expense allotment come from except the taxpayer?
China is experiencing a surge in COVID cases and now the strain causing the surge is in the Philippines.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1708433/omicron-strain-behind-china-surge-now-in-ph |
A strain of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 which has been driving surges in China is now in the Philippines, according to the latest biosurveillance report of the Department of Health (DOH).
Citing that report, the DOH said on Friday that four cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7 were detected in the country, based on the genome sequencing conducted on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
All four infected individuals are in Metro Manila, the department said in a statement. But it did not provide any further details.
Of the 133 samples sequenced by the PGC, 45 were found to carry XBC and 28 were found to have XBB — two Omicron recombinants, or recombined subvariants, detected in October.
The other samples yielded Omicron variants earlier found in the country, such as BA.2.3.20 and BA.5.
The DOH said: “Available evidence for BF.7 does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant.”
Yet the new subvariant still had the “potential to be more transmissible” than the others, the DOH said.
This strain is not more severe than the original Omicron strain but is only possibly "more transmissible." So, there is nothing to worry about. Right? Not according to one expert.
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/26/22/presence-of-covid-bf7-subvariant-in-ph-should-spark-concern-expert |
A public health expert on Monday expressed concern over the presence of omicron subvariant BF.7 in the country, which is reportedly fueling COVID-19 infections in China.
The Philippines has so far detected 4 cases of BF.7.
"Well, that is a concern considering that we are not having accurate information coming from China and China has a past history of not disclosing the number of cases, the number of deaths," Dr. Tony Leachon told ANC's "Headstart".
The former adviser of the Philippine government's coronavirus task force noted the delay of the World Health Organization's declaration of the Chinese outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020, which he said led to the global pandemic.
"We have around 2 million Chinese visitors every year and because of the lack of solid plans in terms of the procurement of the bivalent vaccines, which can address the old Wuhan strain and the new variants, this may be a concern," Leachon continued.
Despite the threat of BF.7, Leachon sees a silver lining for the Philippines.
More than 73 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, he said.
As of December 21, over 21 million have already received their additional jab, DOH figures show.
"The only problem that we see right now is the lack of a secretary of health that can really guide us on the strategic goal for [2023]," Leachon said.
"I think we'll be able to sail through this particular threat coming from the BF.7 and of course, the looming surge of cases in China," Leachon said.
- Sounds like there is nothing to be concerned about at all except for the lack of a health secretary.
The public has been constantly told to be careful during Christmas.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1708619/malcanang-reminds-public-to-remain-vigilant-vs-covid-19-during-christmas-celebration |
On the day before Christmas, Malacañang reminded the public to remain vigilant against COVID-19 during celebrations even with the eased restrictions on gatherings.
In its message, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) told the public to continue complying with health protocols in celebrating Christmas and New Year.
(On Christmas, we should remember our safety and the safety our family and friends in the continuing fight against COVID-19.)
(Even though the restrictions against gatherings have eased, complying with health protocols is still an important way to celebrate Christmas and New Year.)
The OPS reminded the public to continue wearing masks, maintain hand hygiene and practice social distancing.
The public is likewise encouraged to monitor and improve airflow in their houses so that the disease will not spread so easily.
(Make sure that everyone is vaccinated against COVID-19 for a safer gathering this Christmas.)
But statistics show there has been a decrease in cases.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1709361/covid-cases-drop-in-week-of-christmas-amid-parties-events |
COVID-19 cases dropped during Christmas week despite the return of in-person parties and gatherings after two years of the pandemic, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
From Dec. 19 to 25, laboratory tests confirmed an average of 813 COVID-19 cases daily, which was 25 percent lower than the 1,082 average cases detected daily during the previous week.
The DOH weekly bulletins reported an average of 1,000 to 1,100 daily detected cases in December.
In its latest bulletin, the DOH said out of 5,690 people who tested positive for the virus last week, three were in severe or critical condition.
Along with the drop in daily cases, the number of active cases or persons currently infected with the virus also went down to its lowest in nearly six months.
As of Dec. 26, there were 15,937 active cases compared to 17,593 a week ago.
Despite the drop in cases the DOLE is worried about infections in the workpalce after the holidays.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1709698/dole-worries-about-covid-19-infections-in-offices-after-holidays |
With the country’s economy moving closer to full recovery, the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) biggest concern was keeping workplaces free of COVID-19 infections after the holidays, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Tuesday during a visit to Baguio City.Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, was optimistic that the cautiousness practiced by Filipinos toward COVID-19 would help prevent a surge in cases.
Laguesma said that while most industries were reaping high revenues from brisk Yuletide travel and commodity demand, business owners should continue protecting their workers by retaining practices like social distancing at workplaces and conducting periodic tests.
Labor figures have been good, according to him, with 47.11 million Filipinos currently employed as the government works to increase the manpower needed for newly pledged investments obtained by President Marcos during his recent trips to Europe, Singapore and the United States.
“So, we don’t want infections to disrupt business operations and derail progress already being made throughout the country,” Laguesma said after meeting with Baguio’s “Pony Boys,” who would benefit from the labor department’s livelihood and “employability training” program. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the 47.11 million employed Filipinos as of October represented “the highest rate recorded since January 2020,” approaching “prepandemic levels.”
The number was higher than October 2021’s 43.82 million and slightly lower than the 47.58 million employed in September this year.
To date, no workplace infections have been reported to the labor department despite a slight uptick of transmissions in Metro Manila, Laguesma said.
For Vergeire, “practices and behavior” that err on the “side of caution” would help Filipinos avert a new wave of COVID-19 infections in the country despite the entry of BF.7, an Omicron sublineage blamed for an ongoing surge in China.
“I can say it’s going to be different [for] us,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
"To date, no workplace infections have been reported to the labor department." That means this is all fear mongering in the name of erring on the side of caution by practicing worthless health measures that have not stopped and do not stop transmission of the virus.
As of the publication of this article President Marcos has not extended the state of calamity. The DOH is advising him to do so .
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1709686/doh-seeks-4th-state-of-calamity-extension
The Department of Health (DOH) has asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to keep the country under a “state of calamity” in relation to the pandemic until the end of 2023, as the current status is set to elapse on Dec. 31.
If approved, it will be the fourth extension of the declaration first made by Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday said her agency submitted to the Presidential Management Staff, during a Cabinet meeting on Friday, a memo making the recommendation.
“So we’re just waiting for the official response from the Office of the President in terms of this memo we have submitted to them,” she said in a press briefing.
Vergeire noted that the Senate, before Congress went on recess on Dec. 17, had not acted on House Bill No. 6522, which was transmitted to that chamber on Dec. 12.
The bill, a priority measure of the administration, proposes the creation of a new agency, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as the oversight body on the coronavirus pandemic.
In an earlier briefing, Vergeire said “the [proposed] CDC law states the conditions needed for our COVID-19 response to continue.”
She explained on Tuesday that without that new law, the only basis for the government’s vaccination drive, the emergency use authorization issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the disbursement of benefits to health workers would be the state of calamity.
Only the state of calamity gives the government the authority to keep at its vaccination drive and for the FDA to issue emergency use authorization for the experimental vaccines. That means the whole COVID-19 respond is patently unlawful.
No comments:
Post a Comment