More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1789781/ph-covid-19-positivity-rate-dips-to-10-3-octa |
The country’s COVID-19 positivity rate decreased to 10.3 percent as of June 17, according to OCTA Research fellow Guido David.
In a Twitter post on Saturday evening, David said that the positivity rate nationwide decreased slightly from 10.7 percent on June 16 to 10.3 percent the day after.
This data agrees with the DOH which says the daily average of cases is down by 35%.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1203852 |
The country’s daily average of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases decreased by 35 percent from June 12 to 18, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday.
In its latest case bulletin, the agency recorded 612 daily infections, a drop of 335 cases from the 947 recorded between June 5 to 11.
A total of 4,281 new cases were recorded in the recent week.
The tally of severe and critical infections decreased to 477 from the previous week’s 527.
No deaths were verified during the past week.
The DOH says one of these cases is a subvariant of the variant omicron.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/19/23/omicron-subvariant-fe1-detected-in-philippines |
The Philippines has detected its first case of omicron subvariant FE.1, according to the Department of Health.
According to DOH's latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report, FE.1 is a sublineage of XBB, which was added to the list of variants under monitoring by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on June 1.
So far, the FE.1, also known as XBB.1.18.1.1, has been detected in 35 countries or jurisdictions across 6 continents.
"However, currently available evidence for the variant does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original Omicron variant," the DOH report said.
"Limited information is available for the variant and researchers are currently characterizing FE.1 in terms of transmissibility, immune evasion, and ability to cause more severe disease," it added.
The DOH biosurveillance report also revealed 2,215 other offshoots of omicron were also detected in the country.
Some 1,939 were classified as XBB.
Health authorities also detected 206 cases of BA.2.3.20, 34 as XBC, 4 as BA.5, 6 as BA.2.75, and 26 as other omicron sublineages.
One health expert says this sub variant may cause severe infections among the highly vulnerable.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/873440/omicron-fe-1-may-cause-severe-infection-among-highly-vulnerable-solante/story/ |
Infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said Tuesday that the Omicron subvariant FE.1, which was recently detected in the Philippines, may cause severe forms of COVID-19 infections among those most vulnerable to the virus.
Solante, however, made it clear that there is no direct evidence yet to prove that the FE.1—a sublineage of the Omicron XBB subvariant—-can be more transmissible, more immune evasive, or cause severe infections as compared to other variants.
“It may not be totally different as those XBB, so most likely it can still cause severe infections but only for those who are highly vulnerable like the elderly population. Most of the symptoms are mild because ang kadalasang tinitirahan ng mga variants under Omicron [are usually seen] in the upper respiratory tract,” he said in a public briefing.
Solante thus reminded the vulnerable population to keep wearing face masks and update their vaccination with booster shots to keep themselves protected against FE.1
Of course he notes there is "no direct evidence" to prove that claim. Even so, he warns, wear your face mask and update your vaccination status. In fact, Solante says the bivalent vaccines offer substantial protection against this variant.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1203875 |
Bivalent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines could provide substantial protection against the FE.1 Omicron subvariant, an infectious disease expert said Tuesday.
“The effectiveness of bivalent vaccines against the XBB [subvariants] is substantial, not totally zero, though not that high either,” Dr. Rontgene Solante said in a televised public briefing.
While there is no data yet on the testing of bivalent vaccines’ effectiveness against the subvariant, Solante, president of the Philippine College of Physicians, noted that the jabs would be beneficial for the vulnerable population, such as health care workers, individuals with co-morbidities, and senior citizens.
Not only does he say the protection is substantial but "not that high either" which is a contradiction there is no data by which he could make any judgement about this drugs effectiveness against this variant.
Another expert has echoed Solante's call to wear face masks but he would like to make it mandatory.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1790621/doctor-recommends-return-to-mandatory-wearing-of-face-masks |
A doctor advises public face mask use but may remove limits if virus cases drop in two to four weeks to prevent straining healthcare resources outside the National Capital Region.
The call follows the Philippines’ COVID-19 Omicron subvariant FE.1 discovery.
“When we have surges due to new subvariants, we can revert to mandatory face masks like some local government units,” suggested Doctor Anthony “Tony” Leachon.He also said health authorities can “relax when the viral transmission is low in two to four weeks to reduce the escalation of cases in areas outside of the National Capital Region, which lacks healthcare workers and medical facilities.”
Leachon explained the “current available evidence does not show any differences with FE.1 and the original Omicron strain in terms of severity and manifestations.”
But the health expert also warned the public should not be complacent “until the pandemic is truly over.”
It seems like he thinks the pandemic will be "truly over" when there is no more COVID but everyone knows it's not going away.
The OCTA says Hyperion subvariants dominate COVID cases in the Philippines.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1790097/many-covid-cases-in-ph-are-hyperion-subvariant-types-octa |
The ‘Hyperion’ or ‘XBB’ cases account for 83% of all subvariants in the Philippines, according to Octa Research fellow Guido David on Monday.
He made the observation after the DOH released a bio-surveillance report that detailed COVID-19 data sequencing from May 29 to June 12.
“Biosurveillance report by DOH and [Philippine Genome Center] for May 29 to June 12 2023, showed XBB subvariants accounted for 83% of cases sequenced in the Philippines,” said David in a Twitter post.Among the XBB cases, the type XBB 1.9.1 or the “Hyperion” subvariant was the most prevalent, with 33 percent of cases.
DOH had previously said “XBB.1.9.1” does not show any difference in severity or clinical manifestations from other cases caused by the Omicron variant.
But it's not more severe than the Omicron variant or the original so who cares?
New DOH secretary has launched an ambitious 8-point agenda for public health. One of these points is building "a Pandemic Preparedness Center and better training and facilities for infectious diseases."
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/19/23/new-health-chief-herbosa-bares-8-point-agenda-of-doh |
Newly-appointed Health Secretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa is looking at 8 action plans that would guide his leadership over the Department of Health.
During the turnover of the department’s helm from then officer-in-charge Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire and his first flag ceremony as department secretary, Herbosa enumerated his 8-point agenda, which encompasses all aspects and sectors pertinent to public health.
Aside from the implementation of Universal Health Care, he seeks the provision of safe, quality and nurturing health services aided by technological advancements. The DOH is also set to build its capacity when responding to crisis situations and preventing the spread of diseases.
"We will protect against any pandemic through a Pandemic Preparedness Center and better training and facilities for infectious diseases, among others," he said.
Mental health and the welfare and rights of health-care workers are also among the new secretary’s agenda.
"We will work on higher health worker pay, better recognition and a clear upward career mobility pathway of local government and health staff towards the DOH," Herbosa said.
A former spokesperson of the National Task Force during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Herbosa said the country had done well in combatting the pandemic.
He said the NTF worked closely with the Interagency Task Force, headed by the DOH, to prevent the loss of lives and capacitate the then-ailing healthcare system.
"We’re now here. Nasa post-pandemic tayo. We succeeded. Actually, many people are telling us, we were one of the countries with the better management kasi konti ang namatay. Sixty-six thousand deaths. Ang ibang country, million," he said.
(We were one of the countries with the better management because fewer people died, 66,000 deaths. Other countries had millions.)
Under his leadership, Herbosa said he would shun "layers of bureaucracy" and assured employees that his door was always open to anyone willing to share vital information.
Herbosa says the Philippines managed the pandemic well because only 66,000 people died. But how many were from COVID and not exacerbated by COVID? There is also more to management than the number of deaths. The entire nation was locked down and the economy destroyed. There are many factors Herbosa is ignoring here. Not least is that the Philippines is also a small country.
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