Coronavirus Lockdown: Criminals Have Become More Active, World Youth Day, and More!

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

The first World Youth Day since the pandemic has been held and Filipinos make up the largest delegation from Southeast Asia.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/02/23/filipino-pilgrims-attend-first-world-youth-day-after-covid

Around a thousand Filipinos joined Catholics from across the world who gathered here for the first World Youth Day (WYD) since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. 

The Philippines is the largest delegation among Southeast Asian countries for the major Catholic festival that kicked off with a Mass at Eduardo VII Park on Tuesday, according to organizers.   

Filipinos from other delegations such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Australia were also among the participants of the weeklong event. 

Abi Halal, a first-time pilgrim, shared with ABS-CBN News her experience in visiting the famed Marian shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, one of the dioceses included in the pre-WYD activities. 

“Never in my entire life [did I think] that I will step into a place where an actual miracle happened,” she said. 

The Fatima shrine is a main pilgrimage site for Catholics, known as the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to three Portuguese children. Two of them were canonized as saints by Pope Francis in 2017. 

But did they wear face masks? The DOH is urging everyone to wear face masks because of the new omicron subvariant. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/2/wearing-of-face-masks-urged-due-to-new-omicron-subvariant

The Department of Health (DOH) "strongly recommends" the continuous wearing of face masks as protection against the newly detected EG.5 omicron subvariant and other infectious diseases, even after the state of the public health emergency has already been lifted.

"The Department of Health (DOH) strongly recommends the public to continue adhering to our layers of protection such as wearing face masks, isolating when sick, and ensuring good airflow," the department advised on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

"More importantly, the DOH continuously encourages the public to get vaccinated and boosted to further strengthen our wall of immunity and to remain protected against COVID-19," the health department added.

"The continuous wearing of face masks" even though the pandemic is over! Unbelievable. 

Apparantly crime is up now that the pandemic is over. 

 https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/519821/shootings-mean-criminals-have-become-more-active-since-pandemic-lockdown-pro-7-exec

With no more movement restrictions due to the pandemic, criminals are going out and starting to be active again.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said this as an explanation to the spate of recent shootings in Cebu City and the province.

Pelare also assured that these cases would not pose a threat to the peace and order in the city and province.

“There is no need to worry about the recent shooting cases in Cebu City and the province because the police are closely monitoring and investigating these attacks,” said Pelare during a press briefing on August 2.

“Although we have recorded a slight increase in the number compared to last year, we do not see any reason to panic,” the PRO-7 spokesman said, attributing the previous year’s decrease in crime shooting rates to movement restrictions during the pandemic.

He said that the recent surge in criminal activity would suggest that offenders were becoming more active compared to last year.

According to PRO-7, in January to July this year, there were a total of 251 shooting cases recorded in Central Visayas

This number is 39 cases less compared to the total of 290 recorded in the same period in 2022.

“Remember last year, there were still restrictions. But now makita nato ang criminal nanggawas na sad (But now, we can see the criminals are going out again),” Pelare said.

But I heard crime was down. What is the real story about crime in the Philippines?

Congressman Duterte wants the pandemic-era patient referral system to become law. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/3/cong-duterte-on-pandemic-era-patient-referral-system-let-s-make-it-a-law

A second-term congressman wants to institutionalize the pandemic-era patient navigation and referral system to maintain and further expand the linkages among healthcare providers throughout the country.

For this purpose, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.7574, which sought to establish the National Patient Navigation and Referral System (NPNRS).

“The One Hospital Command, which was later called the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC), was used during the pandemic mainly as a means to quickly refer Covid-19 patients to available nearby hospitals and healthcare facilities. This should be improved and expanded into a nationwide network and given sufficient funding to be an effective component of our Universal Health Care (UHC) program,” Duterte said.

Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep, Edvic Yap. are Duterte's co-authors.

The NPNRS will interconnect and facilitate communication among the local government units (LGUs), local and national government agencies, hospitals, infirmaries, telehealth service providers and other health facilities.

Its primary goal is to  ensure the efficient use of the country’s scarce health resources by assisting all types of patients in accessing health care facilities appropriate to their medical needs.

“Institutionalizing a patient navigation and referral system, which is a type of service delivery network, will ensure the continuing provision of quality care through the combination of capacities of individual health service delivery points into a unified delivery system,” the bill’s authors said.

“Now that the public health emergency due to Covid-19 has been lifted, the NPNRC can continue to function as a unit under the Department of Health (DOH) to cater to all types of patients to help them gain access to affordable medical care,” Duterte said.

“Let’s put to  good use the lessons we have learned from the pandemic. Institutionalizing the patient navigation and referral system is one of them,” added the former deputy speaker.

He wants to make this part of the Universal Health Care system but UHC has not even been implanted yet!

Bivalent vaccines have now been approved for the general public. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1812184/doh-chief-covid-19-bivalent-vaccine-now-available-for-general-population

The general population could now get the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Ted Herbosa said Friday.

According to Herbosa, the DOH’s executive committee (Execom) decided to make the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine available to the public due to the slow consumption of initial doses of bivalent vaccine, which targets specific variants of COVID-19 like the more transmissible Omicron.

He also admitted that the vaccine’s supply is declining as the shots are nearing its “extended shelf life” expiration.

(This is new; we decided on it at the Execom last week because the uptake is slow.)

(It used to be just the healthcare workers and senior citizens, so we decided to let everyone who wants to get a booster vaccine go ahead.)

This means the general population could avail of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine, Herbosa added when asked further.

(Yes, I think so, as long as it’s available, we’ll give it because the supply is going down, it’s about to expire.)

The COVID-19 bivalent vaccine was donated by Lithuania in June and considered expired on July 31, but Herbosa asserted that the manufacturer extended its shelf life until August 31.

The only reason the general public can get it now is because "the uptake is slow" and its about to expire! But will the general public go for these new shots?

The Supreme Court has revised all health protocols in the courts. 

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/05/23/updated-health-protocols-in-courts-released

The Office of the Court Administrator has released revised health protocols on court operations after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. lifted the state of public health emergency in the country due to COVID-19. 

In Memorandum Circular No. 271-2023, signed on Aug. 4 but was only released Saturday, Court Administrator Raul Villanueva said only suspected and symptomatic COVID-19 patients require antigen testing. 

Antigen tests can be conducted in their homes or through clinics or hospitals. 

"Positive antigen test result at home should be validated with an RT-PCR result, if still available, and if the result is confirmed positive, the infected person needs to isolate for at least five (5) days from start of symptoms on sick leave," the circular read. 

"If a judge or staff... secure a fit to work certification from a medical practitioner or doctor," it added. 

Antigen testing may also be required by judges for visitors in their courts or halls of justice. 

Wearing of face masks, meanwhile, is now optional inside the Supreme Court premises and the halls of justice. Judges, however, may require face mask wearing inside their courts or halls of justice. 

Face-to-face seminars initiated by Philippine Judicial Academy and the Supreme Court-Office of Administrative Services (OAS), the circular noted, will also continue requiring antigen tests at their discretion. 

"All Judges and Clerks of Court must be vigilant and monitor the health condition of their staff and report any symptomatic or sick employees of COVID-19 to the OAS-OCA," it read. 

Wearing of face masks is optional but may be required by judges inside their courtrooms and suspected infected must be tested for COVID-19.