News Roundup 27 December 2020
Dec 27, 2020 • 4 min Read
DOH adds 883 coronavirus cases as tally eclipses 469,880 | PHILSTAR.COM – Days before New Year’s Eve, health officials recorded 883 more cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Sunday afternoon, the lowest daily update in months and marking a total of 469,886 cases tallied in the country since the pathogen first emerged over a year ago. In its latest case bulletin, the Department of Health also recorded another “mass recovery” of 7,635 new cured patients, bringing the total recoveries to 438,678—good for a 93.4% recovery rate. “The decrease in cases over the holiday season is to be expected given the closure of many private laboratories for the holidays and the decrease in patients seen by those who remained open,” the DOH also wrote in its Message of the Day section. “For December 25, 148 laboratories were open, 87 of which previously committed to the Department of Health to remain open. Of these 148 laboratories, 34 reported seeing zero patients for the day, while the rest reported a decrease in their census,” DOH said. “Five laboratories previously committed to remain open during the 25th but did not submit any report.” Sunday’s coronavirus update also included another 42 casualties linked to the virus, bringing its death toll to 9,109. Minus the deaths and casualties, there are still 22,099 active cases of the disease left in the country’s hospitals and quarantine centers.
Paniqui shooting victims Sonya and Frank Gregorio laid to rest | PHILSTAR.COM – Slain mother and son Sonya and Frank Anthony Gregorio were laid to rest on Sunday, two days after Christmas in what should have been a happy occasion for the family that was marred by the murder of the two by a police officer. It has been a week since SMSgt. Jonel Nuezca shot dead the two unarmed individuals in Paniqui, Tarlac after figuring in a heated argument with his neighbors. A video of the incident went viral on social media, and the killing was met with outrage from the public which had called for reforms in the police force that has figured in series of controversies this year. Dozens attended the burial as shown in a Facebook Live by News5, where emotions ran high as the mother and son were given final rites and the caskets carrying their bodies lowered to the ground.
Moderna ‘accelerating huge shipment’ of COVID-19 vaccines to PH — Locsin | INQUIRER.NET – American biotechnology company Moderna is accelerating a huge shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said, citing information from Manila’s top diplomat in the United States. Locsin made the announcement on Sunday, more than a week after Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose “Babe” Romualdez said Moderna and another company, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., are willing to supply up to 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines in the third quarter of 2021. “More good news from Babe: Moderna on board and accelerating huge shipment. Everything’s falling back into place,” Locsin tweeted. “We will have complete range of vaccines from least effective to most available for everyone to choose from,” he added. Locsin added that a COVID-19 vaccine will not be “mass deployed” unless the “official recommending it for mass deployment is seen taking it himself.”
Ping laments Duterte threat to abrogate VFA anew | Manila Bulletin – Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is disappointed over President Duterte’s threat to lift the termination of the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) when he demanded that at least a share of 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines be given to the Philippines. “It is at the very least, unfortunate,” Lacson said in a statement. “I think there could be a more diplomatic or at least a better way of asking a longtime ally to help us avail of the vaccines for our people without sounding like we are blackmailing our way into it,” Lacson added. Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, in a separate statement, said he hoped that the President should have directed his warning to China. Pangilinan had earlier joined other lawmakers in urging the government to choose COVID-19 vaccines that have higher efficiency rates than China-made vaccines that only have 50 efficacy and yet are expensive. “Perhaps our citizens would be better off if he instead threatened China not to sell us more expensive yet less than ineffective if not inferior vaccines,” Pangilinan said.
