Saturday, December 4, 2021

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

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

Covid deaths breach 49,000; new cases still below 1,000

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 01:02 AM PST

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday, December 4, 2021, reported that Covid-19 mortalities in the Philippines have breached the 49,000-mark, with 243 new deaths.

In its 4 p.m. case bulletin, the DOH said the country's death toll was at 49,230, with the mortality rate standing at 1.74 percent.

Despite this, fresh Covid-19 cases have stayed below 1,000 for the 11th straight day, recording only 517 on Saturday.

The country's positivity rate was at 1.8 percent out of the 35,238 tests conducted on December 2.

The new cases increased the country's total caseload to 2,834,294.

A total of 1,139 individuals also recovered from the disease, bringing the total recoveries to 2,770,726 or 97.8 percent.

The DOH also logged 14,338 active cases or only 0.5 percent of the total cases.

Of the active cases, 6,350 cases were mild, 3,837 were moderate, 2,425 were severe, 815 were critical and 911 were asymptomatic.

As for the country's healthcare utilization rate, 25 percent of intensive care unit beds, 25 percent of isolation beds, 15 percent of ward beds and 12 percent of ventilators have been utilized.

The DOH also said two laboratories were not operational on December 2, while one laboratory failed to submit data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.

"Pinapaalalahanan ang lahat na huwag maging kampante sa banta ng Covid-19," the health agency said.

(Everyone is reminded not to be complacent against the threat of Covid-19.)

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Close to 10M jabbed in extended vaccination drive

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 12:36 AM PST

THE health department on Saturday, December 4, 2021, said close to 10 million people were vaccinated against Covid-19 during the extended "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" national vaccination days from November 29 to December 3, 2021.

The Department of Health said as of Saturday, a total of 9,937,827 individuals were vaccinated during the extended vaccination drive.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the five-day "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" was a "huge success" as it was able to meet its quota of inoculating nine million people.

Vergeire said that in the first three days of the vaccination drive, a total of 8.01 million people were vaccinated, short of around one million of the initial target.

With the extension, around 1.9 million individuals were added to the number.

The campaign was originally set for November 29 to December 1, but a voluntary extension of vaccination days was allowed until December 3.

A second leg of the National Vaccination Days has been set from December 15 to 17.

According to the National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard as of December 3, the Philippines has already administered a total of 90,640,665 vaccine doses, 52,628,592 of which were for first doses, 37,568,088 were for second-dose and single-dose vaccines and 443,985 were for booster doses.

The health undersecretary also urged local government units to accept vaccinees even without prior registration.

"Kung saka-sakaling pupunta na ang ating mga mga kababayan sa vaccination sites sana po payagan na natin silang mabakunahan kahit hindi sila nakapag-register because we lose the opportunity if we still send them home," she said.

(If a person goes to one of our vaccination sites, please allow them to get vaccinated even if they have not registered because we lose the opportunity if we still send them home.)

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New testing, quarantine rules for inbound travelers from non-red list countries

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 01:47 AM PST

THE Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Thursday, December 2, 2021, approved new testing and quarantine protocols for travelers coming from countries not part of the red list.

Fully vaccinated individuals will be required to have a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test conducted within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin.

Travelers will need to undergo facility-based quarantine with an RT-PCR test taken on the fifth day upon arrival in the country. Regardless of the outcome of the test, they will be subjected to home quarantine until the 14th day after their arrival.

Individuals who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or whose vaccination status cannot be independently validated will be required a negative RT-PCR test conducted within 72 hours before departure from the country of origin.

They will also have to go through a facility-based quarantine, which will include an RT-PCR test on the seventh day and home quarantine up to the 14th day from the date of arrival.

For minors, regardless of immunization status or country of origin, testing and quarantine measures will follow those of the parent or guardian traveling with them.

International passengers who have already arrived and are currently undergoing quarantine will continue with the testing and quarantine protocols in place at the time of their arrival.

Filipinos arriving from red-list countries allowed by the government and non-government repatriations and Bayanihan flights will only be allowed to deplane at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and/or Clark International Airport.

The IATF earlier expanded the flight ban due to the Omicron coronavirus variant.

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Petitioners secure proof of Marcos conviction, unserved sentence

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:47 AM PST

IN A bid to further prove that former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is not eligible to run for president, petitioners, led by Fr. Christian Buenafe, on Friday, December 3, 2021, said they have secured certification that indicates his conviction and that his sentence remains unserved.

In a statement, the petitioners' counsel, Theodore Te, bared that they were able to secure material documents from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City, Branch 105, confirming that Marcos has been convicted for his failure to pay his income tax.

"The certification simply cements what we have already said in the petition. The respondent has been convicted and the sentence remains unserved," said Te.

"His continuing evasion of the sentence, coupled with his repeated misrepresentation of his eligibility all those times he ran for public office, is evidence of his intent to deceive the electorate and not to abide by the laws he aspires to execute," he added.

He said the petitioners are planning to bring the matter to the urgent attention of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be used in their petition to have the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Marcos canceled.

Te said they will also forward the matter to the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, which is the government agency mandated to enforce the judgment of the QC RTC.

The petitioners earlier asked the Comelec to cancel Marcos' COC as he allegedly committed material misrepresentation when he claimed that he is eligible to run for president.

According to the petitioners, Marcos is not eligible since he is a convicted criminal for a crime that involves moral turpitude and was sentenced to be imprisoned for more than 18 months.

"If we continue to comply with the health protocols and get inoculated, we can sustain the decline in cases," she added. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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DOH still prefers virtual Christmas parties

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:45 AM PST

EVEN as coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases continue to decline, the Department of Health (DOH) is not yet keen on seeing the return of face-to-face Christmas parties.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they would still recommend virtual Christmas gatherings to avoid transmission of the virus.

"It is still best to hold virtual parties for this Christmas. I know this is already the second Christmas with a different form of celebration, but it is necessary," said Vergeire.

"Hopefully, we can do these kinds of sacrifices so we can prevent further infections in the community," she added.

She said the threat of Covid-19 remains present despite the number of cases already on a downward trend.

"Although cases are going down in the country, we need to remember that Covid-19 remains present and that we can still get infected or infect others," said Vergeire.

For those who will opt to hold physical holiday gatherings, the health official said it is better to set several health and safety parameters.

Vergeire said it would be best if attendees must be limited to fully vaccinated individuals, held in open spaces, wearing face masks, and observance of physical distancing.

She said it is also better if there will be no buffet and that food will be served per plate.

"If they really want to have these gatherings, let us maintain these safety protocols to avoid infection," said Vergeire.

Still on a drop

Based on the current projections of the DOH, Vergeire said cases in the Philippines are seen to continue to go down for the rest of December.

She said this is if the public remains adherent to the minimum public health standards and gets vaccinated.

"Our projection is it will continue to go down until the end of the year, both here in the National Capital Region and in the whole Philippines," said Vergeire.

Vergeire said their projection does not factor in yet the threat of the Omicron variant. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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POEA warns public vs smishing 'job offers'

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:31 AM PST

AMID fears of data leaks and breaches, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Friday, December 3, 2021, warned the public against the presence of bogus job offers being done through smishing.

Based on POEA Advisory No. 159 - 2021, the agency said aspiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should avoid falling for text messages supposedly offering jobs abroad and requires recipients to click on the accompanying link.

"In smishing, text messages promising employment and high salaries are sent to trick users to click on suspicious links. These links redirect users to fraudulent sites when clicked. These sites may steal users' personal data, introduce mobile malware, and even commit fraud," said the POEA.

"Applicants for overseas employment are reminded to avoid clicking on suspicious links, especially those coming from services and numbers which they did not sign up for," it added.

Instead of falling for them, the POEA said the public is advised to block the said numbers.

The POEA also encouraged the public to report the smishing incidents to their telecommunications provider, the National Privacy Commission, and the National Telecommunications Commission.

Recently, many Filipinos claimed to have received multiple spam messages that offer jobs, raffle promos, as well as cash deals.

Not a few believe that their contact information might have been sourced from contact tracing forms and apps that are part of Covid-19 protocols. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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PH sees less than 1,000 Covid cases for 10 days straight

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:30 AM PST

FOR the tenth straight day, less than 1,000 new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases were reported by the Department of Health (DOH) Friday, December 3, 2021.

Based on the 4 p.m. case bulletin, the DOH said there are 544 new Covid-19 cases reported on Friday.

The positivity rate of the country was at 1.8 percent out of the 32,908 tests conducted on December 1.

The country's total Covid-19 caseload has risen to 2,833,878.

The health department also logged 235 new deaths among Covid-19 patients, bringing the total mortalities in the country to 48,987.

The case fatality rate stood at 1.73 percent.

The DOH also reported 734 Covid-19 patients who recovered, bringing the number of total recoveries to 2,769,914.

This meant that 97.7 percent of the Covid-19 patients in the country have been able to recover.

Less the deaths and recoveries, the DOH said there remain to be 14,977 active Covid-19 cases in the country.

The active cases accounted for 0.5 percent of the Covid-19 cases in the country.

Of the active cases, 7,166 were mild cases, 3,801 were moderate cases, 2,433 were severe cases, 889 were critical cases, and 688 were asymptomatic cases. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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Comelec 'learned its lessons' from 7-hour glitch in 2019 polls

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:29 AM PST

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) was able to learn its lesson in the May 2019 polls, particularly in hoping to avoid a repeat of the controversial seven-hour glitch.

This was the assessment of the international certification entity, Pro V&V, as it conducted the trusted build of the country's automated election system (AES) Friday, December 3, 2021.

"I think they have a lot of lessons learned, especially when it comes to the seven-hour glitch," said Pro V&V President Jack Cobb in a virtual media briefing.

"Every system gets more and more mature as they learn things from their mistakes," he added.

Back in the May 2019 elections, the AES experienced a seven-hour delay in the update of election results tally boards of media outlets as well as citizens arm, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

The seven-hour delay was attributed to the failure of the transparency server's file transfer manager, which was supposed to transmit data from the transparency server to the PPCRV and the media.

For the forthcoming polls, Cobb said the Comelec has managed to upgrade the file transfer manager as well as its designated bandwidth.

"They refactored the code to perform at a higher level than what the old was," said Cobb.

It was the Alabama-based company that also conducted the international certification services for the Comelec in the 2019 polls.

For the May 2022 elections, Pro V&V bagged the contract anew after tendering a P54.566-million bid for the review of the AES. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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Public, LGUs told: Observe booster interval

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 12:27 AM PST

WITH booster shots now allowed for all adults aged 18 years old and above, the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, December 3, 2021, reminded the public as well as local government units (LGUs) to strictly observe the required intervals between the primary series and additional doses for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all vaccination sites must adhere to the guidelines of booster shot administration.

"That condition (on intervals) is the first condition we need to follow in getting booster shots. That is very clear," said Vergeire.

She said LGUs must also consider the potential adverse effects of giving booster shots in advance, or earlier than the required interval.

"We need to stop this practice because we don't know if it will have a different reaction to the vaccinees if we give it outside the guidelines," said Vergeire.

Under the guidelines, the DOH said those that got Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, Sputnik V, and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines may get their booster or additional shots at least six months after completion of the primary dose series.

Those that received Janssen doses for their primary vaccines may get inoculation with booster or additional shots at least three months after completion of the primary dose series.

On Thursday, the DOH announced that all adults aged 18 years and above may already get their booster shots. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)

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8M jabbed in 3-day vaccination drive

Posted: 02 Dec 2021 11:02 PM PST

OVER eight million individuals were inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccines in the three-day "Bayanihan, Bakunahan" national vaccination days from November 29 to December 1, 2021, health undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said Friday, December 3.

Based on the Vaccine Operation Reporting System as of 6 a.m. Friday, a total of 8,014,751 individuals were jabbed or 89.06 percent of the committed target.

On November 29, a total of 2,709,344 vaccine doses were administered; November 30 with 2,475,479 doses; and December 1 with 2,829,928 doses.

The Philippines targeted to inoculate nine million Filipinos in the three-day drive but failed to reach its quota based on recent data. However, voluntary extension of vaccination days was allowed until Friday, December 3.

Cabotaje said the top-performing regions based on the cumulative number of jabs were Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Central Visayas. The regions accounted for a third of the eight million jabs administered.

Cebu province ranked first in the top-performing provinces, followed by Negros Occidental and Cavite.

"Nagpapasalamat tayo sa mga tumulong sa bakunahan," Cabotaje said.

(We thank everyone who helped in the vaccination.)

According to the National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard as of December 2, the Philippines has already administered a total of 90,259,621 vaccine doses, 52,473,282 of which are for first doses, 37,353,438 for second doses, and 432,901 for booster doses.

The DOH started to rollout booster shots against Covid-19 for fully vaccinated adults on Friday, December 3.

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PH records below 1,000 Covid cases for 9th straight day

Posted: 02 Dec 2021 05:08 AM PST

THE health department on Thursday, December 2, 2021, logged for the ninth straight day below 1,000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

In its 4 p.m. case bulletin, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 564 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.

The country's positivity rate further declined to 1.7 percent out of the 34,918 tests conducted on November 30.

The new cases increased the country's total caseload to 2,833,473.

The DOH also logged 40 new deaths that brought the country's death toll to 48,752. This meant that 1.72 percent of all cases succumbed to Covid-19.

A total of 694 individuals also recovered from the disease, bringing the total recoveries to 2,769,533 or 97.7 percent.

The Philippines also logged 15,188 active cases or only 0.5 percent of the total cases.

Of the active cases, 7,126 cases were mild, 3,817 were moderate, 2,463 were severe, 1,067 were critical and 715 were asymptomatic.

For the healthcare utilization rate, 27 percent of intensive care unit beds, 25 percent of isolation beds, 14 percent of ward beds and 6 percent of ventilators have been utilized.

DOG also said two laboratories were not operational on November 20, while three laboratories failed to submit data to the Covid-19 Document Repository System.

Based on data over the past 14 days, the contribution of these five laboratories was approximately 0.9 percent in all samples tested and 0.3 percent in all positive individuals.

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