News Roundup 03 January 2022
Jan 03, 2022 • 5 min Read
Mass testing pushed as PH logs 4,600 new COVID-19 cases | INQUIRER.NET – The surge in new COVID-19 cases due to the easing of quarantine restrictions during the Christmas holidays picked up pace as the Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday reported 4,600 new infections, or almost double in just the past three days. About one in five of the 26,122 individuals tested on Dec. 31 was infected, raising the country’s positivity rate to a high 19.6 percent, according to the DOH. This was up by nearly twentyfold from only 0.9 percent only 11 days ago and way above the 5-percent threshold of the World Health Organization to indicate that the spread of the coronavirus is under control. A high positivity rate also means that more testing should be done since it suggests that there may be more people infected with the disease in the community who have yet to be detected. The daily tally from the DOH seemed to mirror the fear of public health experts that the Philippines would soon suffer the fate of the United States and many countries in Europe, which are now battling the latest surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus. The DOH earlier warned the public of a “high probability of exponential growth” in virus cases following the confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in the country. A total of 14 Omicron cases have already been documented in the country, three of which were transmitted locally. In its latest bulletin, the DOH said the country’s active cases, or the number of people still afflicted with the virus, were now at 21,418, the highest since the 22,070 active cases recorded on Nov. 20. “Of the 4,600 reported [new] cases, 4,548 occurred within the recent 14 days,” the DOH said in its bulletin. It said two laboratories did not operate on Dec. 31 while nine others failed to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System. As seen in the past several weeks, most of the new infections were recorded in the National Capital Region with 3,279, followed by Calabarzon (676) and Central Luzon (252). Pateros, which was COVID-free for nearly three weeks, has logged 36 new COVID-19 infections, prompting Mayor Miguel Ponce III to order the closure of basketball courts and discourage activities that require the removal of masks such as contact sports in Metro Manila’s smallest local government. Two hospitals in the city of Manila also had to temporarily close due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
Robredo: OVP’s telemed channels still open, mobile COVID tests to resume this week | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo has assured the public that her office’s telemedicine channels called the Bayanihan e-Konsulta remain open as their mobile testing initiative dubbed Swab Cab will resume operations within the week. Robredo’s pledge comes as the country faces an uptick in new coronavirus infections following relaxed COVID-19 curbs through the holidays. “Sa mga nangangailangan mag konsulta sa duktor, tuloy-tuloy pa po ang ating Bayanihan e-Konsulta. Ibabalik na din po natin ngayong Linggo ‘yung ating mga Swab Cabs,” she said in a tweet. (For those who may need to consult with doctors, our Bayanihan E-Konsulta operations are continuous. We will also be resuming the Swab Cabs within this week.) A graphic attached to Robredo’s social media post contained reminders about what people who think they were infected with COVID-19 can do online and how they can avail of free consultations by clicking the “Send Message” button on the Bayanihan e-Konsulta Facebook page.
DOT: Case of Pinay traveler who evaded quarantine now with PNP | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Tourism on Monday ended its probe into the Filipina who arrived from the US and evaded the mandated quarantine for returning overseas Filipinos and has left the matter to the police. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat earlier said that the returning Filipino broke the mandatory quarantine rules and evaded it by going home directly to her condominium. She was caught after posting her massage session on social media on the day of her arrival. An individual close to the quarantine violator reported the incident to the DOT. This report was confirmed by the agency’s investigation. “The investigation found that the returning overseas Filipino was referred to a hotel in Makati for the mandatory quarantine period for arriving international passengers,” the DOT said. “The hotel management, however, claimed that when its personnel went to the airport to pick up the individual, according to the procedure, the individual evaded going with hotel staff by claiming a quarantine exemption that turned out to be non-existent,” it added. The DOT said it has endorsed the case to the Philippine National Police, which is a member of the One-Stop-Shop for the Management of Returning Overseas Filipino (OSS-MROF) for appropriate action.
Robredo’s Angat Buhay has benefited over 600k families | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo’s flagship Angat Buhay program has helped 622,000 families in 223 cities and municipalities across the country since she assumed office in 2016. A yearend report from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) said the families have been assisted by Angat Buhay using more than P520 million worth of aid, mostly donations from the private sector. Robredo’s office has partnered with 372 organizations in the implementation of its poverty alleviation program in the past five-and-a-half years. The Angat Buhay program, which was launched in October 2016, focuses on six key advocacy areas, namely: public education, rural development, food security and nutrition, women empowerment, universal healthcare, and housing and resettlement. It also covers disaster relief and rehabilitation and response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The OVP’s core program focusing on uplifting the lives of Filipino families from poverty mirrors the vision of Robredo for the country in her presidential bid this upcoming elections.
