News Roundup 23 March 2021
Mar 23, 2021 • 3 min Read
Philippines sees 5,867 new COVID-19 cases, total now at 677,653 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Tuesday saw 5,867 new coronavirus cases, pushing its overall count to now at 677,653. Today’s active cases reaching more than 86,000 is a new all-time high since the start of the pandemic in March of last year.
– Active cases: 86,200 or 12.7% of the total
– Recoveries: 620, pushing the number to 578,461
– Deaths: 20, or now 12,992 in total
‘Band-aid solutions’ won’t control virus spread, health workers say on ‘NCR Plus’ curbs | PHILSTAR.COM – A group of medical workers is calling for concrete interventions to address the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, saying the new restrictions in the “NCR Plus” area will not work to stop the spread. Members of the 160-strong Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 said government should take the two weeks’ worth of curbs in Metro Manila and the provinces od Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna to strengthen healthcare systems. “We did not reach this current surge of almost 8,000 a day, overnight,” HPAAC said in a March 22 statement. “The nature of the pandemic exposed our previously weak health and social support systems.” The group’s call came as several hospitals in the capital region began reporting full capacity at their COVID-19 wards, with daily additional infections reaching all-time highs in recent days. On Monday, Philippine Hospital Association chief Jaime Almora also sought staff reinforcements with medical facilities now at “critical level” and workers already exhausted. And while government has ordered hospitals within the ‘NCR Plus’ to increase bed capacity for COVID-19 patients, it was mum on addressing the possibility of the medical workforce being overwhelmed. “We urge our leaders in government, especially our economic managers, to respect the primacy of health objectives in fighting the pandemic,” HPAAC added. “This is the reality: containing the virus through scientific approaches will pave the way for economic recovery.”
OCTA Research: COVID-19 cases ‘unlikely’ to go down in 2 weeks | INQUIRER.NET – It is unlikely to see a downward trend in COVID-19 cases for the next two weeks despite the government task force’s decision to place Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces under a general community quarantine (GCQ) bubble, a fellow at the OCTA Research group said Tuesday. In an interview over CNN Philippines, Dr. Guido David of the OCTA Research group explained that as of the moment, the reproduction number of COVID-19 in Metro Manila is at 2.1. The reproduction number, also known as the R-naught or R0, is the transmission rate of a disease, where the number equals to how many people a patient can infect, where an R-naught of one means each patient can infect another potential patient. “Right now the reproduction number in NCR is about 2.1 and if we want to reduce the number of cases, that means we have to reduce the reproduction number from 2 all the way down to 1,” he said. “This cannot happen in two weeks, unfortunately,” he added.
‘Unbelievable’, says Drilon on Duterte’s refusal to assume responsibility on unwanted vaccine effects | Manila Bulletin – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon was perplexed that President Duterte refused to assume full responsibility for the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines even as he signed the law providing it. Drilon pointed out on Tuesday, March 23, that no less than Duterte’s Cabinet members, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, pushed lawmakers to come up with an indemnity clause in the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act (Republic Act No. 11525), as supposedly demanded by vaccine manufacturers before giving the Philippines supplies of their products. The law allocates a fund of P500 million to augment the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) budget for compensating those who will suffer from the possible side effects of the coronavirus vaccines. “Unbelievable,” Drilon said in a text message sent to reporters. “[Duterte] certified the law as urgent. We passed it. He signed it. There is a law,” he added, sighing in disbelief.
