News Roundup 19 January 2022
Jan 19, 2022 • 4 min Read
DOH records 22,958 new COVID-19 infections; active cases down to 270K | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Wednesday posted 22,958 additional COVID-19 infections, raising the total count to over 3.29 million. For the second straight day, the number of active cases went down. According to the Department of Health, the number of people who are currently sick is at 270,728, or 8.2% of the total caseload. The death toll increased by 82 to 53,044, while recoveries rose by 36,611 to 2,969,853. Ninety-four of the newly-reported cases occurred from January 6 to January 19. The top regions with new cases in the past two weeks were Metro Manila (36%), Calabarzon (21%) and Central Luzon (9%). The DOH said 43.5% of 62,531 samples on January 17 tested positive for COVID-19, way above the threshold set by the World Health Organization. Six testing laboratories did not submit data to the DOH.
Pangilinan: Use P7.5B fund of ‘Pantawid Pasada’ for free rides of unvaxxed, partially vaxxed | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Francis Pangilinan on Wednesday called on the government to tap the P7.5 billion budget of the “Pantawid Pasada” program this year to provide free rides to unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people. “Merong P7.5 billion na pwedeng gamitin para magkaroon ng libreng sakay para sa mga unvaxxed o partially vaxxed, lalong-lalo na ang mga essential workers,” Pangilinan, who is running for vice president in the May elections, said in a statement. (There is a P7.5-billion allocation that can be used to offer free rides to those unvaccinated and partially vaccinated, especially to essential workers.) The Pantawid Pasada program is a fuel subsidy scheme for public utility drivers. The senator made the call on the third day of the “no vaccination, no ride” policy implementation in Metro Manila. “Lalo lang nating pinaparusahan ang mga ordinaryong mamamayan sa patuloy na pag-impose nitong no-vaccination, no-ride scheme na klarong-klaro kontra-mahirap,” Pangilinan said, even as he welcomed the exemption of workers from the policy. (We are all the more punishing the ordinary people in the continued implementation of this no vaccination, no ride scheme which is clearly anti-poor.) “Dapat habulin ang mga mala-bampirang sumisipsip sa pondo natin sa pamamagitan ng mga overpriced contracts tulad ng sa Pharmally,” he added, referring to the company currently embroiled in a Senate investigation after it bagged over P8.6 billion in supply contracts at the height of the pandemic in 2020. (The government should instead go after COVID-19 fund vampires in overpriced Pharmally contracts.)
‘Sampal sa gobyerno:’ Drilon wants unvaxxed PAO chief barred from working | INQUIRER.NET – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday urged Malacanang and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to bar Public Attorneys Office (PAO) Chief Persida Acosta from reporting to work unless she is vaccinated against COVID-19. Despite the government’s attempt to convince people to get their COVID-19 vaccination, Drilon said it is “unacceptable” that Acosta is unvaccinated. “Hindi ba sampal iyon sa gobyerno (Isn’t that a slap in the face of the government)? I hope it is not deliberate but Acosta’s recent statements can fuel vaccine hesitancy that we are trying to address,” Drilon said in a statement. “Until she gets vaccinated, she should be barred from reporting to work,” he added. Drilon warned that the government could be accused of double standards if it allows Acosta to report to work while restricting the movement of unvaccinated Filipinos. “If the government is serious about its ‘no vax, stay at home; no vax, no ride policy,’ it should apply it to all. Otherwise, it will not work,” Drilon said. “The government should take the same hardline stance against their own officials. Set an example with Acosta,” he stressed.
‘Omicron is not mild,’ expert cautions public | Manila Bulletin – An infectious disease expert cautioned the public against using the term “mild” to describe the Omicron variant of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana took to Facebook to dissipate misinformation and give a reality check to netizens. “Omicron is not mild. It is milder than Delta. It is milder if you are fully vaccinated. We are still seeing severe disease and deaths for Omicron, almost all of which are among the unvaccinated,” Salvana said. He likewise encouraged the public to get vaccinated amid the threat of the highly transmissible variant. “Want to live with the virus? That’s only going to happen if you are vaccinated. Otherwise, you can still die from it,” Salvana stressed.
