Coronavirus Lockdown: Variant JN.1, Pandemic Recovery Cuts Poverty Rate, and More!

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

A new COVID-19 circulating outside the country may enter the Philippines soon say health authorities. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/12/21/2320387/new-covid-19-variant-jn1-may-enter-philippines

The new COVID-19 subvariant JN.1 now circulating in the US and other countries is expected to enter the country in “due time,” according to an infectious disease specialist.

Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) president Dr. Rontgene Solante stressed the need to closely monitor the new subvariant that could trigger a further rise in cases of the infectious disease.

“I think we need to monitor this one. I don’t know if it has been detected in our surveillance, but given the fact that it is in neighboring countries and we do not have travel restrictions, in due time it will be here as well,” Solante said yesterday in a mix of Filipino and English in a radio interview.

Based on preliminary data, Solante said JN.1 does not have characteristics like that of Delta, which could cause severe infections.

The World Health Organization previously classified the JN.1 coronavirus subvariant as a “variant of interest,” noting that it did not pose much threat to public health.

The rising number of COVID-19 cases at this time, Solante said, should not cause panic since the incidence of respiratory viruses is expected to increase because of the holiday season and the cold weather.

Solante noted that even before the pandemic, influenza-like illnesses (ILI) normally jumped during cold months.

He added that a majority of those who got infected with COVID as well as other respiratory viruses have recovered fast and did not require hospitalization.

He said people need to strengthen their immune systems to avoid getting severe types of ILI and COVID.

Health officials are encouraging people to wear face masks.

"I think we need to monitor this one." Sound scary, right? Not according to one health expert who has downplayed worries over this new variant.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1877876/expert-downplays-worries-over-covid-19-variant

The Omicron subvariant JN.1, which has been driving a resurgence in COVID-19 infections in some parts of Europe and Asia in recent weeks, is not seen to immediately overwhelm the country’s health-care system should it enter the Philippines.

According to infectious diseases specialist Dr. Rontgene Solante, revising COVID-19 protocols may not be necessary at the moment as “we don’t expect a significant increase in hospitalization rates or even mortality or severe COVID-19 [cases.]”

An effective precautionary measure for now is “to remind the public and encourage those who are symptomatic to wear face masks when in crowded areas or when attending gatherings,” he told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

JN.1 is a sublineage of its BA.2.86, which came from the XBB variant. The latest biosurveillance report of the Department of Health (DOH) shows that the parent lineage BA.2.86 as well as JN.1 remain undetected in the country.

Solante, however, noted that “it has mutations in the spike protein … known to increase transmission.” “It has been causing rapid growth in some European countries this November … Because of its growth advantage causing [an] increase in the cases … it is expected to be globally dominant in the next weeks to come,” said Solante, who is also the president of the Philippine College of Physicians.

Dr. Rontgene Solante says people should simply wear face masks as a precautionary measure. Otherwise he does not see it affecting the Philippines in any significant way. 

The Philippines continues to recover from the pandemic as seen in the lowering of the poverty rate. 

https://business.inquirer.net/438157/pandemic-recovery-cut-poverty-rate-at-22-4-in-h1-psa

The proportion of poor Filipinos declined in the first half of 2023, as the Philippines emerged from a pandemic that wiped out years of gains in reducing poverty in the country.

A nationwide survey of 171,588 families showed there were 25.24 million poor Filipinos in the first half of 2023, lower than the 26.14 million recorded in the same period in 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday.

That translated to a poverty rate among the country’s population of 22.4% in the first semester of 2023, lower than the 23.7% rate in the comparable period in 2021.

“The decision to fully open the economy has allowed us to recover from the unprecedented impact of the pandemic and government response,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

On average, a family of five would need at least P13,797 per month to meet their basic needs in the first half, data showed.

Meanwhile, 9.79 million Filipinos said their income was not enough to buy even the basic foods they need, equivalent to a subsistence incidence of 8.7 percent, down from 9.9 percent recorded in the previous survey.

Where do they get that data that a family of 5 needs P13,797 to meet their basic needs?  That sounds incredibly low factoring in rent, utilities, and food.

Iloilo is now encouraging the public to wear face masks once more. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1215828

The local government here has ordered the mandatory use of face masks at the city hall and encouraged its use in other enclosed areas in Iloilo City due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

"The cases of Covid are rising. The effects of the vaccine wane and we no longer have vaccines to deploy. For enclosed areas the City Health Office (CHO) encourages the use of masks for the protection of everyone. For gatherings during the Christmas season, proper protection should be made,” Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said in a statement issued Friday morning.

Before this, Treñas said in an interview on Thursday that he would not yet issue an Executive Order since the CHO has released an advisory strongly recommending the use of face masks in public places, social gatherings, workplaces, healthcare facilities, outdoor activities where physical distancing is challenging, and public transport.

“I have already talked to so many friends. A lot of them become positive. It is also your protection because you don’t know who is positive,” the mayor added.

CHO medical officer Dr. Jan Reygine Ansino Hortinela said the city recorded 15 new cases as of Thursday, increasing the active cases to 79 out of the 1,290 cases since Jan. 1 this year.

Incredible that the Mayor of Iloilo was even considering an executive order mandating face masks. We are one paranoid delusion away from going back to 2020. 

The nationwide COVID-19 positivity rate is up to 18%. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1878809/covid-19-positivity-rate-in-ph-hits-18-1-as-of-dec-22-octa-research

The COVID-19 positivity rate in the country continues to rise, hitting 18.1 percent as of Friday, Octa Research said.

Octa Research fellow Guido David said on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday that the latest coronavirus positivity rate was based on the December 22 Department of Health (DOH) report of 557 new COVID-19 infections.

David also pointed out that of the 557 new cases, 235 are from Metro Manila. He likewise presented in his X post that the freshly logged coronavirus infections drove the total nationwide cases to 4,132,200, including the 5,569 active cases.

He said earlier that December 23 could see an increase of 500 to 600 new cases.

The latest COVID positivity rate is higher than the 16.7 percent logged as of Wednesday, December 20, and 15.8 percent logged as of Monday, December 19.

All recorded coronavirus positivity rates this week, however, were past the five percent World Health Organization threshold marking viral transmission is under control.

The DOH also reported Friday that 318 coronavirus patients in the country recovered from the disease, raising total recoveries to 4,059,836 since the pandemic hit in 2020. The death toll stood at 66,795 as of December 22.

But health protocols are still not being made mandatory. Not even in Boracay despite the number of rising COVID-19 cases. 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/892357/no-restrictions-in-boracay-despite-rising-covid-19-flu-cases-mayor/story/

Boracay Island in Aklan is not enforcing any restrictions yet amid the increasing infections of COVID-19 and flu-like illnesses nationwide, Malay Mayor Floribar Bautista said Tuesday.

(As of now we don't have any adjustments or new health protocols because we haven't discussed the rising number of COVID cases yet. For now we don't have any restrictions regarding COVID-19 in Boracay.) 

Surely all the tourists are thankful for that.