Monday, May 31, 2021

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

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

Marine unit gets cash reward for rescue of Indonesians

Posted: 31 May 2021 01:07 AM PDT

THE military unit that rescued Indonesian nationals from the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has received the cash reward promised by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said on Monday, May 31, 2021.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Cirilito Sobejana said reward is for the entire marine unit.

"Hindi naman (extraordinary) kasi this is the prerogative of the President to recognize the effort of our soldiers and it impacts on capabiltiy enhancement. If we have soldiers with high state of morale they will be more productive, I always equate happiness into productivity, so this is for the unit, not for individual soldiers," he said during his command visit to the 2nd Marine Brigade Headquarters in Bonga, Tawi-tawi.

He also conferred the Distinguished Navy Cross medal on Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi deputy commander Colonel Nestor Narag Jr., and the Silver Cross Medal on the Special Intelligence Team under the 2nd Marine Brigade.

On the cash reward, Sobejana said it will be up to the unit on how they are going to spend the cash reward.

"Well it's up for the unit commander, they are responsible kung paano nila, ano disposition nila sa pera, pambili nila ng mga kagamitan na will further enhance the capability, yung hindi issued equipment na sa palagay ng unit commander mission essential," he said.

"Pwede pa rin, morale and welfare, bili sila ng videooke para sa in between operations, pwede silang magkanta-kantahan, other things na kailangan ng unit," Sobejana added.

The five Indonesian nationals were abducted in the vicinity of Tambisan, Malaysia. One of them died and his body was recovered in September 2020.

On March 18, 2021, three of them were rescued by the Joint Task Force Tawi-tawi during the conduct of focused military operations. The remaining hostage victim was rescued on March 21.

ASG leader Majan Sahidjuan, alias Apo Mike, and his two followers who were responsible for the abduction were killed in a follow-up operation on March 23. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)

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No travel restrictions on Vietnam, but DOH pushes strict compliance to health protocols

Posted: 30 May 2021 11:31 PM PDT

TRAVELERS from Vietnam or with travel history to Vietnam may still enter the Philippines as the government has not imposed any restrictions despite reports of a new Sars-CoV-2 variant that is a hybrid of those found in India and the United Kingdom (UK).

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, said on Monday, May 31, 2021, that there is no need to panic over this new variant.

"We have to always remember - whatever variant there may be, we are protected if we strictly enforce and comply with health protocols, and we get the vaccine," Vergeire said.

"There is no need to panic over the reported new variant in Vietnam. Let us just intensify enforcement of health protocols and we will be protected from any of these variants," she added.

She said they were still waiting for validated information and guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the new variant.

"You have to understand the process. If new mutations are detected, the process is to inform the WHO, which classifies the variants of concern. The WHO said over the weekend that it has not received the full details of the new variant yet," Vergeire said.

The WHO has, so far, identified four variants of concern: B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the UK; B.1.351, first reported in South Africa; B.1.1.28.1 or P.1, first found in Brazilian travelers; and B.1.617, which was first confirmed in India.

Based on WHO's definition, a variant of concern is a form of Sars-CoV-2 that has been found to be associated with an increase in transmissibility, an increase in virulence, and a decrease in effectiveness of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The P.3, or B.1.1.28.3, that was first reported in the Philippines is a variant of interest, which is a version of the virus that has been identified to cause multiple coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases or clusters, or has been detected in multiple countries.

"For now, we still don't have sufficient evidence for this. We just need to further intensify enforcement of minimum health protocols," Vergeire said.

These include proper wearing of face masks and face shields in public places, physical distancing, frequent hand washing and improving ventilation in enclosed spaces.

Vietnam's Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long announced on Saturday the detection of the new variant.

He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus.

Long says the new variant could be responsible for a recent surge in Vietnam, which has spread to 30 of the country's 63 municipalities and provinces.

Vietnam was initially a standout success in battling the virus. In early May, it had recorded just over 3,100 confirmed cases and 35 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

But in the last few weeks, Vietnam has confirmed more than 3,500 new cases and 12 deaths, increasing the country's total death toll to 47.

Most of the new transmissions were found in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, two provinces dense with industrial zones where hundreds of thousands of people work for major companies including Samsung, Canon and Luxshare, a partner in assembling Apple products.

Despite strict health regulations, a company in Bac Giang discovered that one fifth of its 4,800 workers had tested positive for the virus.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the country's largest metropolis and home to 9 million, at least 85 people have tested positive as part of a cluster at a Protestant church, the Health Ministry said. Worshippers sang and chanted while sitting close together without wearing proper masks or taking other precautions.

Vietnam has since ordered a nationwide ban on all religious events. In major cities, authorities have banned large gatherings, closed public parks and non-essential business including in-person restaurants, bars, clubs and spas. (Marites Villamor-Ilano with AP)

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New Sputnik V shipment arrives

Posted: 30 May 2021 10:33 PM PDT

AN ADDITIONAL 50,000 doses of Sputnik V, Russia's vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), arrived in the Philippines on Sunday evening, May 30, 2021.

These brought to 80,000 the total doses of Sputnik V that have been delivered to the country. Including the other vaccine brands, the Philippines has received a total of 8,329,050 doses.

The Sputnik V shipment was on board Qatar Airways Flight QR928, which arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 before midnight Sunday.

The National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 said the vaccines were brought to the PharmaServ warehouse in Marikina City prior to deployment to centers of gravity nationwide.

The first two Sputnik V shipments arrived on May 1 and 12.

NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine and 2.2 million doses of Pfizer are expected to arrive in the month of June.

Galvez said 5,120,023 doses have been administered.

He said they are hoping to inoculate around 10 million individuals in June. The target is to fully vaccinate 50 to 70 million before the year ends in order to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)

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Rising infections traced to faster case growth in regions

Posted: 30 May 2021 02:38 AM PDT

FOR the fifth day in a row, the Department of Health (DOH) reported more than 5,000 new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases and over 100 deaths in a day.

The uptrend in new cases is evident in the seven-day moving average, which exceeded 6,000 again in the week from May 24 to 30 after breaching this barrier in mid-May and declining to about 5,300 a week ago from May 17 to 23.

On Sunday, May 30, DOH confirmed 7,058 new cases. Although lower than the 8,748 on May 28 and the 7,443 on May 29, this was the highest daily tally in 18 days from May 10 to 27.

The new infections pushed the total Covid-19 case count to 1,223,627 as of May 20. Thirteen duplicates, including eight recoveries and one death, were removed from the total count.

The DOH case bulletin also listed 132 deaths, exceeding 100 for the fifth straight day. These raised the Covid-19 death toll to 20,860, with the case fatality rate steady at 1.7 percent.

Of the 132 additional deaths confirmed Sunday, 80 were previously tagged as recoveries but were validated to be mortalities.

There were 6,852 new recoveries, bringing the total to 1,149,010, or 93.9 percent of the total case count.

With new infections exceeding recoveries, the number of active cases climbed to 53,757 on Sunday. These still comprised 4.4 percent of the total case count.

The positivity rate remained elevated at 13.2 percent and testing output decreased to 44,928 on May 28. Four laboratories were unable to submit their data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.

Trend

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the cases nationwide had started to plateau, but increased again beginning May 28.

"To better understand our national case trend, let's take a look at the regional data. For NCR Plus areas, the numbers continue to go down but the rate of decline is slower in recent weeks," she said.

However, some regions in Luzon that had posted negative two-week growth rates (TWGR) are again showing trend reversal to positive TWGR.

In Visayas, Vergeire said all regions showed a gradual increase in cases.

In Mindanao, she said all regions showed a sustained growth in cases, with Northern Mindanao, Davao and Caraga posting faster rates of increase this week compared to the previous week.

"DOH will continue to work with local government units (LGUs) to ensure PDITR (prevent, detect, isolate, treat and reintegrate) implementation is improved, particularly shortening the period of case detection to isolation," Vergeire said.

"We remind everyone to continue practicing the MPHS (minimum public health standards) and getting vaccinated when it's their turn to curb transmission of Covid-19," she added.

MPHS refers to proper wearing of face masks and face shields in public, physical distancing and frequent handwashing.

Based on the DOH tracker, the National Capital Region (NCR) still had the highest number of new cases at 14,716 in the last 14 days to May 29, but these were lower compared to the 16,198 a week ago on May 22 and the 20,828 on May 15.

Calabarzon and Central Luzon also posted declines in their two-week running total to 12,174 and 9,322, respectively, on May 29 from 12,751 and 9,016, respectively, on May 22.

Western Visayas, which had the fourth highest 14-day running total among the regions, posted an increase to 5,323 on May 29 from 4,535 on May 22.

Cagayan Valley surpassed Zamboanga Peninsula to take the fifth spot, with 3,807 new cases in the last 14 days.

Among the cities and provinces, Cavite Province dislodged Quezon City from the top spot although its two-week running caseload decreased to 3,629 on May 29 from 3,801 on May 22.

The case count in Quezon City, the most populous city in the country with around 3.0 million residents, decreased to 3,501 from 3,841 for the period.

Other provinces also posted declines. Laguna had 3,207 new cases in the last two weeks, followed by Bulacan with 2,617 and Batangas with 2,226. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)

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