News Roundup 15 August 2021
Aug 15, 2021 • 3 min Read
Philippines logs 14,749 more COVID-19 infections, active cases at 102,748 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Sunday said 14,749 more Filipinos contracted the COVID-19, pushing the country’s total to 1,741,616. The numbers on August 15 make it the second-highest daily rise since the pandemic began, or the 15,310 last April. Active cases climbed beyond 100,000, or up by 3,901 from the 98,847 on August 14. DOH said three laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 102,748 or 5.9%
- Recoveries: 10,720, bringing the number to 1,608,528
- Deaths: 270, or now 30,340 in total
Philippines detects 1st Lambda variant case, 182 more Delta cases | PHILSTAR.COM – Philippine health authorities on Sunday reported the country’s first case of the Lambda variant of COVID-19, along with 182 more infections of the Delta variant. The Department of Health said a 35-year-old woman tested positive for Lambda, a variant of interest first detected in Peru. Officials said they are still verifying if she is a local case or a Filipino returning from overseas. “The case was asymptomatic and tagged as recovered after undergoing the 10-day isolation period,” the agency said, adding back tracing and case investigation are underway. Lambda, which is also called C.37, was classified a variant of interest by the World Health Organization on June 14. DOH said it has the potential to affect the transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2, “and is currently being monitored for its possible clinical significance.”
Cebu logs 496 deaths in last 14 days due to COVID-19 | INQUIRER.NET – At least 496 people have died due to COVID-19 in the entire island of Cebu in the last 14 days. Based on the data from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), Cebu province accounted for 306 COVID-19 fatalities from August 1 to 14. Cebu City, on the other hand, recorded 109 COVID-19 deaths during the same period. The other independent and highly urbanized cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu also have 31 and 50 deaths respectively. The DOH said the COVID-19 dedicated hospital beds in Cebu are under the “high risk” category with 72.5 occupancy rate as of August 13. In Cebu City alone, the COVID-19 hospital beds are at 75.8 percent capacity with major hospitals nearing full capacity. The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, the biggest regional hospital, is now 95.5 percent full with regards to its 189 COVID-19 beds. All of the 65 COVID-19 beds at the Cebu Doctors University Hospital are occupied. The Perpetual Succour Hospital is also nearing full capacity with its 71 beds occupied at 95.9 percent while Chong Hua Hospital still has 65.6 percent occupancy rate. The safe zone is below 60 percent, according to the DOH.
Robredo shrugs off quit calls on Duque: ‘It won’t do nothing if system doesn’t change’ | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo believes the renewed calls for the resignation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III “would not do nothing” if the country’s system on COVID-19 response remains unchanged. Robredo, a leader of the opposition, downplayed the mounting calls for Duque’s resignation when was asked about the issue during her Sunday radio show. “Kasi kahit magbitiw kung hindi naman mag-i-improve iyong sistema, wala rin (Even if he resigns and the system won’t improve, it would be for nothing),” she said. More important than Duque’s resignation, Robredo emphasized, is how the country is “moving forward” in responding to the pandemic. “Ang pinaka-importante sa atin palagi moving forward, ‘di ba. Ano iyong makaka-improve? (The most important for us is always moving forward, right. What would make us improve),” she said. The embattled Health chief is again facing calls to step down from his post over the “deficiencies” in the use of the P67.3 billion worth of COVID-19 funds, as flagged recently by the Commission on Audit (COA).
