More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Face masks have not been madnatory for almost two years. Quezon City has decided to reimpose on the public.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/12/30/2322239/quezon-province-imposes-mandatory-masking |
Citing an increase in COVID-19 and other influenza-like illnesses, the provincial government of Quezon yesterday imposed mandatory wearing of face masks.
The policy is contained in Executive Order DHT-60, signed by Gov. Angelina Tan.
Tan, who is a medical doctor, said she issued the order to prevent COVID-19 cases, as well as other flu-like illnesses in the province, from increasing.
“Mandatory wearing of face masks shall continue for indoor settings and in outdoor settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained,” Tan said.
Among these are public spaces, hospitals and clinics.
She said people with flu-like symptoms such as cough, colds, sore throat and fever must isolate themselves from the rest of the population.
Meanwhile, the testing of suspected cases with mild symptoms shall be optional.
Tan did not say up to when the mandatory face mask rule will last.
Testing is optional but masks are not. Never mind that the DOH is not recommending mandatory masking. What is the science behind this order?
Baguio is not imposing a mandate but is urging people to wear face masks.
 |
| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/892438/baguio-mayor-wear-face-masks-as-covid-19-cases-rise/story/ |
What science is there to back up the assertion that cold weather will cause an increase in COVD-19 cases?Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Wednesday encouraged residents and visitors to the City of Pines to wear face masks especially in crowded areas due to rising COVID-19 cases across the country.Magalong said the number of COVID-19 infections and cases with flu-like symptoms are increasing in Baguio, whose population of almost 400,000 spiked with the annual influx of tourists during the holiday season.(We're already encouraging the use of face masks especially in crowded areas and while riding in public transport because we really anticipated that cases will increase because it's getting colder.)Magalong thus advised the public to bring their jackets when they visit Baguio as the temperature in the city is now at 15 °C to 23 °C this month.
Health Secretary Ted Herbosa earlier encouraged the public to wear face masks amid increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.
Despite the rise in COVID-19 infections, Department of Health spokesperson Undersecretary Enrique Tayag said that the agency is not recommending the return of mandatory wearing of face masks because the situation now is “expected.”
Rep. Dan Fernandez of change the Philippines' name to Ophir fame is pushing for a law that will require the Senate to approve of any future WHO pandemic policies.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1882075/house-rep-pushes-for-senate-approval-of-future-who-pandemic-policy |
Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez wants the Senate’s approval for any future pandemic policy or regulation, which could result in “medical martial law,” that the World Health Organization (WHO) might impose on 194 member states including the Philippines.
Fernandez said that the process of adopting two WHO legal instruments for reforms in handling pandemics has been “shrouded in secrecy with the negotiations taking place behind closed doors and at tremendous speed and with their existence not being reported.”
Both documents, he claimed, would be finalized and voted on by the WHO member states in May 2024 and take effect in May 2025.
The lawmaker filed House Bill No. 9563, or the proposed No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, which would require all international health agreements and regulations to be scrutinized and approved by the Senate before implementation.
Fernandez noted that negotiations among WHO member countries have been ongoing since 2021 for the crafting of a new Pandemic Treaty and amendments to International Health Regulations, which are intended to introduce reforms in the management of pandemics.
“Aiming for its advice to become legally ‘binding’ on the part of member states, the WHO is not only seeking the right to declare recommendations by several health experts as mandatory but also the power to impose on the people all kinds of access restrictions, lockdowns, surveillance, and experimental treatments,” he said.
“The WHO further reserves and assumes the right to define various health situations and to control all information related to health, including the right to censorship and interfere in social communications, with no provisions for a mechanism that will allow member states to challenge WHO’s assessments when it comes to public health emergencies of international concern and the measures to be undertaken,” the lawmaker said.
“Such recent developments do not bode well not only for health but also for democracy. Some sectors have observed that this ‘medical martial law’ is an uncanny characteristic of a possible dystopian dictatorial future and that such a ‘power grab’ by the WHO presents a clear and present danger to national sovereignty, the right to self-determination, and to our people’s right to informed consent,” he said.
According to Fernandez, several countries have been claiming WHO mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic including unjustified delay in informing member states about the potentially serious disease outbreak in Wuhan, China; and repeated grossly inaccurate or misleading claims on the transmission of the virus and on the Chinese government’s handling of the outbreak.
He stressed: “In view of the lingering doubts as to the competence or integrity of the WHO and of its recent drive to be granted almost unbridled authority or supranational power to handle future pandemics, there is a compelling need to require any and all international health covenants, agreements, or regulations to pass through the scrutiny of our Senate.”
As we all saw during the height of the pandemic all it takes is an overzealous President and trigger happy cops to erode the people's liberties. Did Dan Fernandez speak out against the unneccessary and economically crippling lockdowns?
It's a new year and the people are feeling more optimistinc than ever.
 |
| https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/12/28/96-percent-Filipinos-hopeful-for-2024.html |
A national survey released four days ahead of the New Year found that the majority, or 96% of adult Filipinos, will be welcoming 2024 with hope rather than fear, the highest percentage since pre-pandemic 2019.
“This is a point above the 95% in 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic 96% in 2019,” the Social Weather Survey (SWS) said in its Thursday report.
According to the SWS, its survey with a primary question of ‘Ang darating na taon ba ay inyong sasalubungin nang may pag-asa o may pangamba?’ was conducted from Dec. 8 to 11 via face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide.
[Translation: Is it with hope or with fear that you enter the coming year?]
The findings also showed that only 3% of Filipinos would enter 2024 with fear.
Additionally, 73% of Filipinos expected to have a happy Christmas, the same figure in 2022, the SWS noted.
“The percentage of those who are entering the New Year with hope rather than fear is higher among those who expected a happy Christmas (98%) and those who expected neither a happy nor sad Christmas (95%) than those who expected a sad Christmas (84%),” it said.
The percentage of hopefuls in the National Capital Region (NCR) rose from 93% in 2022 to 97% this year, Mindanao also rose from 93% last year to 96% now.
On the other hand, Balance Luzon retained its percentage at 97%, while the Visayas dropped from 95% in 2022 to 93% this year.
The SWS also showed a rise in the New Year hope percentage among adults who attended school.
“Compared to the end of 2022, New Year hope rose slightly across educational levels: from 92% to 93% among non-elementary graduates, from 95% to 97% among elementary graduates, from 95% to 96% among junior high school graduates, and from 96% to 98% among college graduates,” it said.
Of course it remains to be seen if it will indeed be a Happy New Year. But with Filipino resiliency and resolve it will undoubtedly be so.
The DOT is aiming to have even more tourist arrivals this year as the nation continues to recover from the pandemic.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/01/02/2322986/dot-sets-77-million-target-international-arrivals-2024 |
After surpassing its conservative target of international visitors in 2023, the Department of Tourism is increasing its target number of international arrivals to 7.7 million in 2024 — the highest target it has set since the COVID-19 pandemic paused global tourism.
In a release, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said that the country is aiming to reach at least 7.7 million international visitors in 2024, which is just half a million lower than the country’s pre-pandemic arrivals of 8.2 million in 2019.
In 2023, the Philippines recorded a total of 5.45 million international visitors, higher than the projected 4.8 million it set for the year.
Lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 had put a brake in the tourism industry worldwide, and it was only in 2022 that the tourism department in the Philippines resumed setting their target number of foreign arrivals for the year.
According to the DOT, the Philippines has recovered 66% of its record number of international arrivals in 2019.
The local tourism industry is also "recovering faster than expected," according to the DOT, which noted that international tourism receipts have "surged" at an estimated P482 billion in 2023. This is 124% higher than the previous year.
Frasco previously said that the Philippines may once again breach the 8 million mark in terms of the number of tourists by 2025.
There are a lot of factors at play here which are out of the DOT's control. All those millions of new tourists will have a new destination to see, the Manila Post Office.
No comments:
Post a Comment