News Roundup 06 April 2020
Apr 06, 2020 • 2 min Read
Patients rush to join studies testing drug for coronavirus | INQUIRER.NET – The new coronavirus made Dr. Jag Singh a patient at his own hospital. His alarm grew as he saw an X-ray of his pneumonia-choked lungs and colleagues asked his wishes about life support while wheeling him into Massachusetts General’s intensive care unit. When they offered him a chance to help test remdesivir, an experimental drug that’s shown promise against some other coronaviruses, “it did not even cross my mind once to say ‘no,’” said Singh, a heart specialist. Coronavirus patients around the world have been rushing to join remdesivir studies that opened in hospitals in the last few weeks.
Volunteer lawyers to help those discriminated during COVID-19 pandemic | PHILSTAR.COM – A group of lawyers are offering free legal services to those who face discrimination amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Monday reiterated the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ condemnation of discrimination against healthcare workers, overseas Filipino workers, COVID-19 patients, and patients under investigation and monitoring.
Raps filed vs Senator Pimentel | Manila Bulletin – Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko Pimentel III faces a criminal complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) over his alleged breach of quarantine protocols. Former University of Makati law dean Rico Quicho announced on his Facebook page that he filed the complaint at the DOJ just before noon on Monday, April 6.
VP, lawmakers ask: Extend quarantine | The Manila Times – As the final week of the month-long, Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine approaches, calls are mounting for an extension because the number of new coronavirus cases and deaths continues to rise. Several lawmakers and other officials, including Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, favor adding 15 days to the lockdown, which is scheduled to be lifted on April 13. Others, mainly from the business community, are proposing a calibrated lifting that allows some sectors, particularly manufacturing, to reopen in order to soften the economic blow of the quarantine of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.