News Roundup 07 March 2021
Mar 07, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH records over 3,000 coronavirus cases for third consecutive day | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported 3,276 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 on Sunday, March 7, bringing the number of total cases to 594,412. Of the total caseload, 36,043 or 6.1% are still classified as active cases, or patients who have neither passed away nor recovered and are still in hospitals and quarantine facilities. The department in its latest case bulletin also reported 51 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 12,516 or 2.1% of total cases. Exactly 545,853 have now so far recovered after the DOH added 10,516 more recoveries, good for a 91.8% recovery rate.
Amid new COVID-19 spike, Robredo reminds Filipinos: Don’t be complacent | PHILSTAR.COM – Coronavirus infections are on the rise once more despite the formal beginning of the government’s national vaccination program, which should prompt Filipinos to stay vigilant with regards to minimum health standards, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday. Speaking at her weekly radio show Sunday morning, the country’s No. 2 reminded Filipinos that the current vaccine supply in the country is still limited to healthcare frontliners and professionals and later, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities. This comes as the Department of Health on Sunday afternoon logged over 3,000 coronavirus cases for the third day in a row. “We’ve been in lockdown for so long, so some people grew impatient. Others got complacent because there were days where we only had more than 1,000 cases. But now, it’s scary because there were 3,000 plus cases for the last three days,” Robredo said in mixed Filipino and English. “I hope we don’t get complacent even if there are available vaccines now. We [in government] should show that too,” she added, pointing to recent resolutions by the government’s coronavirus task force looking to ease travel restrictions, particularly health requirements, for travelers. Earlier Sunday, the Department of Health also reported that the Philippine Genome Center had found that one of 30 anonymized samples from the Philippine General Hospital was found to have traces of the South African coronavirus variant. To date, exactly 594,412 coronavirus cases have been recorded by the department. The Philippines, among the hardest-hit countries by the pathogen, is still under the world’s longest quarantine.
9 dead, 6 arrested in series of raids in Calabarzon | INQUIRER.NET – At least nine were killed and six others were arrested on Sunday in simultaneous police operations across Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), the Police Regional Office 4A (PRO4A) said. Of the 9 killed, PRO 4A information officer Lt. Col. Chitadel Gaoiran said six were reported in Rizal, two in Batangas, and one in Cavite. Meanwhile, three of the six arrested were from Rizal and the other three were from Laguna. Gaoiran said eight individuals in Rizal and one in Rizal remain at large. “[Twenty four] po lahat na SW [search warrant] ang sinerve. May mga nakuha pong explosives at assorted firearms sa mga suspects,” Gaoiran told INQUIRER.net in a text message. In a statement, activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) said among those killed in the crackdown was their Cavite coordinator Manny Assuncion while among those arrested was their Laguna spokesperson Mags Camora. BAYAN said the house of their Batangas coordinator Lino Baez was also raided. “We demand that all those arrested be freed and that an independent, credible investigation into the simultaneous raids be done by Congress and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to hold those responsible to account,” BAYAN said. “We likewise demand that the Supreme Court take immediate steps to prevent the further weaponization of search warrants and other judicial instruments to silence activists, political dissenters, and government critics,” it added.
Makabayan solons condemn Sunday ‘bloodbath’ in Southern Tagalog | Manila Bulletin – Makabayan bloc solons on Sunday, March 7 said President Duterte was indeed serious in his order to “shoot and kill” and “ignore human rights” when the military staged a series of “tokhang-style raids” that resulted in deaths and arrests of legitimate dissenters in Southern Luzon provinces. The members of the House minority bloc said the killings and arrests started nearly in an instant that Duterte gave the signal. Nine persons were reportedly killed as the military swooped down on offices and residences of alleged leaders and members of organizations that government authorities linked to communist rebels. Among those slain was Mary Asuncion, coordinator of the Cavite Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. Six others were reportedly arrested during the series of raids conducted in Batangas, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna.
Photo: Minalungao National Park, General Tinio, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Photo Source: By Klienne Eco – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69968736
