Saturday, March 20, 2021

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

Owwa official to OFWs: Postpone plans of coming home

Posted: 20 Mar 2021 12:39 AM PDT

AN OFFICIAL of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Saturday, March 20, 2021, appealed to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to reconsider plans of coming home amid the surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the country.

In his Twitter account, Owwa Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said it would be better if OFWs forego their plans of coming home.

"Just an advice to our dear OFWs: Postpone plans to return home to our beloved country... If only it is still possible, please do postpone your trips back home," said Cacdac.

"One reason is the high number of new COVID-19 cases in the country," he added.

Another reason is that hotels that serve as quarantine facilities for OFWs were full, Cacdac said.

On Friday, the Philippines set a new record high in new Covid-19 cases with 7,103 in a day.

All Filipinos are still allowed to return home, subject to the quota of 1,500 international arrivals per day, while foreigners, with some exemptions, are barred from entering the country from March 22 to April 21, 2021. (HDT / SunStar Philippines)

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New Covid-19 cases just shy of 8,000 in a single day

Posted: 20 Mar 2021 12:37 AM PDT

(UPDATED) The Philippines again broke its own record on Saturday March 20, 2021, as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 7,999 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

These were higher than the previous day's 7,103 cases and last year's peak of 6,958 on August 10, 2020.

These pushed the number of active cases in hospitals and isolation facilities to a seven-month high of 80,642, lesser than the 83,109 on August 15, 2020, and caused the cumulative case count to surge past 650,000.

The DOH case bulletin at 4 p.m. Saturday also showed 30 additional deaths from Covid-19, raising the death toll to 12,930.

There were 597 new recoveries, bringing the total to 562,484.

The proportion of active cases inched up by a percentage point to 12.3 percent of the total case count of 656,056 while the case fatality rate and the proportion of recoveries declined further to 1.97 percent and 85.7 percent, respectively.

The daily positivity rate remained elevated at 14.6 percent, although this was lesser than the previous day's 15 percent, as fewer people got tested for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Of the 30,131 samples tested, 4,390 yielded positive results.

The DOH case buletin also showed that half of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds nationwide were in use while utilization rates for isolation and ward beds were lower at 40 percent and 37 percent on Saturday compared to the previous day's 60 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

The utilization rate for mechanical ventilators was also lower at 32 percent on Saturday compared to 69 percent on Friday. No explanation was given for the disparity.

Based on the DOH tracker, the highest 14-day running total of new cases as of March 19 were still in Quezon City (5,508), Manila (4,240), Cavite (2,781), Pasay City (2,726) and Bulacan (2,596). Quezon City is the most populous city in the country.

Among the regions, the National Capital Region (NCR) continued to post the highest 14-day running total of new cases at 27,862, followed by Calabarzon with 7,702, Central Visayas with 4,818, Central Luzon with 4,344 and Cagayan Valley with 1,416.

The NCR, where nearly 50 percent of the cases originate according to health authorities, is the second biggest region in the country in terms of population, next only to Calabarzon. (Marites Villamor-Ilano with HDT / SunStar Philippines)

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114 new Covid-19 variant cases detected

Posted: 19 Mar 2021 11:15 PM PDT

THE Department of Health (DOH on Saturday, March 201, 2021, said 114 additional coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases with variants have been detected in the Philippines, mostly from the National Capital Region (NCR).

Of the 114 new cases, 46 contained the B.1.1.7 (UK) variant, 62 had the B.1.351 (South Africa) variant, and six were assigned to the P.3 variant.

These brought the total number of variant cases in the country to 479, of which 223 are B.1.1.7 cases, 152 are B.1.351 cases and 104 are P.3 cases.

In a statement, DOH said the additional cases were among the 150 samples, mostly from the NCR, sequenced by the UP Philippine Genome Center.

Among the 46 new B.1.1.7 variant cases, 45 are still active while one has recovered. DOH also said 36 are local cases from the NCR, two are returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and eight are under verification.

Among the 62 additional B.1.351 variant cases, 60 are active and two have recovered while 43 are local cases and 19 are under verification. Of the 43 local cases, 41 are from the NCR and two are from Calabarzon.

Of the six new P.3 variant cases, four are local cases from the NCR and two are under verification. All six are active.

The DOH reiterated its call for strict compliance to the minimum public health standards.

It also urged the public to stay at home, unless it is extremely necessary to go out.

"Strict adherence to the minimum public health standards in all private and public settings is strongly emphasized to minimize Covid-19 transmission and avoid further mutations," the agency said. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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