News Roundup 20 March 2020
Mar 20, 2020 • 2 min Read
‘Tulog, kain, ligo, laba:’ QC cafe gives homeless ‘fighting chance’ vs COVID-19 | INQUIRER.NET – Washing hands has become essential as a basic protective measure against COVID-19 but to some people, it was simply not possible, at least where they live—out in the streets. Those were thoughts that Camille Dowling Ibanes expressed aloud just as she decided to close her coffee shop, Popburri Cafe in East Kamias, Quezon City, to turn it into a shelter for the homeless who are having difficulty finding food to eat, much less running water and soap to wash their hands and protect themselves and others from COVI -19.
Philippines logs 13 new COVID-19 cases; total now at 230 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines detected 13 additional novel coronavirus cases on Friday, raising the total to 230 since the country first confirmed an infection in late January. A vast majority of COVID-19 infections are in Luzon, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to place the main island under enhanced community quarantine. The Department of Health also reported one new fatality, bringing the death toll to 18.
Social media raises questions on political influence to get COVID-19 test | Manila Bulletin – Social media bashers have started to train their sight on politicians who allegedly used their influence to pressure the Department of Health to put them in the priority list of tests for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID 19). Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are among those within the bashers’ radar as COVID-19 infected persons were reported to have attended committee hearings in both chambers. The criticisms against officials started when a medical doctor complained on social media that “politicians and their staff are now asking to be serviced in their homes by the DOH surveillance team”.
‘Don’t assume that you will not be infected’ | The Manila Times – GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday called the new coronavirus an “enemy against humanity” and warned people not to assume that they will not be infected. “This coronavirus is presenting us with an unprecedented threat,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual news conference. He stressed the need for countries everywhere to “come together as one against a common enemy: an enemy against humanity”.
