News Roundup 23 July 2021
Jul 23, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines sees 6,845 new coronavirus infections | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Friday reported 6,845 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,537,097.
- Active cases: 55,069 or 3.6% of the total
- Recoveries: 2,330, pushing total to 1,455,137
- Deaths: 0, bringing total to 26,891
DOH says 18 Delta variant cases unvaccinated vs COVID-19 | PHILSTAR.COM – At least 18 of the 47 individuals who contracted the highly transmissible Delta variant were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the Department of Health said Friday. Only two have completed vaccination, while four have received first dose, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing. The department is verifying the vaccination status of the others. Officials have been calling on Filipinos to get vaccinated to give them protection against COVID-19, especially amid the threat of the fast-spreading Delta variant. “If you would look at evidence across the globe, you will see that most of those vaccinated, if they get infected, are only getting mild infections. We are also seeing that in Philippines,” Vergeire said.
12 more Delta cases found; brace for surge, says OCTA | INQUIRER.NET – The independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research group on Thursday called for “urgent and appropriate” response from the national and local governments, saying the uptick in COVID-19 cases in the nation’s capital could be driven by the more transmissible Delta variant after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 12 more cases. “The OCTA Research group believes that a surge in its early stages has started in the NCR (National Capital Region),” it said in a report. Molecular biologist and OCTA fellow Nicanor Austriaco said the national government should be ready to impose more restrictions on the movement of people and prepare hospitals while increasing its capacity for contact tracing to control the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant. Austriaco said local governments should also intensify contact tracing, be ready to implement localized lockdowns “quickly and generously” and prepare isolation facilities. Ranjit Rye, another OCTA fellow, said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases “at the very least” must consider a stricter quarantine status or impose more restrictions in the NCR. “The current GCQ (general community quarantine) status without restrictions will not be enough,” Rye told reporters. “The key to dealing with this impending surge in cases in the NCR requires timely and appropriate interventions that would include lockdowns augmented by expanded testing and tracing,” he said, adding that the surge earlier in the year became more deadly due to delays in the implementation of government curbs.
Vice president not immune from suit, criminal liability – Carpio-Morales | Manila Bulletin – Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has debunked President Duterte’s assumption that he will be spared from criminal liability if he wins the vice presidency in the 2022 national election. Citing United States jurisprudence as the basis, Carpio-Morales maintained that the vice president is “not immune” from suit or from any criminal liability. “And of course, that has been proven wrong because… the vice president as far as the US jurisprudence is concerned. A vice president is not immune from suit, from any criminal liability, as far as US jurisprudence is concerned 217 years ago,” Carpio-Morales said during the virtual 1 Sambayan pre-SONA media briefing Friday. Duterte, during the PDP-Laban assembly last week, said he is seeking the vice presidency in 2022 to protect him from being held legally accountable for wrongdoing. He claimed that the vice president is immune from suit, just like the President. “The law says, if you are vice president, you have immunity. Then I will just run for vice president. After that, I will run for vice president,” Duterte said during his impromptu speech at the party assembly. Carpio-Morales, who also became Ombudsman chief after her retirement from the High Court, said she does not see any hope of change coming even if Duterte becomes vice president “I don’t think hope is coming because the President is now aligning himself to run for vice president because he believes that if he is vice president his assumption that he will win he will be spared from any criminal liability… he will continue what he has been doing for the last five years,” she said. In the same forum, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said if the International Criminal Court (ICC) decides to proceed with the preliminary investigation on the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines under Duterte, “it does not matter whether the latter in an incumbent president or not. “ “The ICC will proceed if it wants to proceed, whether you are a sitting president or not,” he said.
