News Roundup 28 February 2021
Feb 28, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH records 2,113 new COVID-19 cases in the Philippines | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported 2,113 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Sunday, February 28, bringing the number of total cases to 576,352. Of the total caseload, 29,763 or 5.2% 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 29 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 12,318 or 2.14% of total cases. Exactly 534,271 have so far recovered after the DOH added 9,418 more recoveries, good for a 92.7% recovery rate. The 2,921 cases recorded just the day before, less data from six labs that did not submit to the DOH n time, also marked the biggest increase in four months.
VP on ‘nurse for vaccines’ proposal: Improve local working conditions instead | PHILSTAR.COM – Government should focus on improving working conditions in the Philippines to keep healthcare workers from leaving instead of dangling their deployment in exchange for vaccines, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday. The labor department’s proposal to send more health workers to the United Kingdom and Germany for donations of 600,000 doses of COVID-19 jabs did not sit well with many, with the agency later on clarifying that they did not intend to make it look as if nurses were being commodified. Over DZXL, Robredo said that while the country needs the vaccines, efforts to procure doses should not be made at the expense of having more Filipinos leave home. “(It’s a bit sad because have we grown that desperate?” she said in Filipino on her weekly radio program. “In fact, our main target should be to improve the environment at home for our health workers so they no longer have to leave the country. Many are saying they are heroes and that’s correct. But how are we treating them?” Filipinos have been seeking employment abroad for decades and overseas remittances play a significant role in the economy.
Robredo, Pangilinan call for HTAC review on donated Sinovac vaccine | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan are backing a group of doctors from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in calling for a further review of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac. In her weekly radio show on Sunday, Robredo underscored the need for Sinovac’s vaccine to undergo the right process in order to ensure the protection of the country’s health workers. The government of China has donated 600,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine which are expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon. “Ang Pfizer saka AstraZeneca, mayroon nang EUA (emergency use authorization), mayroon nang positive recommendation galing sa HTAC, itong Health Technology Assessment Council,” she said. (Pfizer and AstraZeneca already secured their EUA as well as a positive recommendation from the HTAC, the Health Technology Assessment Council.) “Pero iyong Sinovac, nakikita natin mayroon pa lang siyang EUA pero wala pa siyang positive recommendation from HTAC. Ito iyong pinoprotesta noong mga health workers sa PGH,” she added. (But Sinovac, it already has an EUA but it has yet to secure a positive recommendation from HTAC. This is what our health workers in PGH are protesting.) HTAC, an advisory body created under the Universal Health Care law, reviews the cost, as well as the ethical and community impact of drugs that will be introduced to the public. The council is also mandated to undertake technology appraisals by determining their clinical and economic values in the Philippine healthcare system, with the aim of improving overall health outcomes and ensure fairness, equity, and sustainability of coverage for all Filipino citizens.
‘H’wag tayong gumaya’: Robredo asks supporters to do ‘bayanihan’, not to put up her streamers | Manila Bulletin – While she is thankful for her supporters, Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday appealed to them to do community work instead of putting up posters calling on her to run for president next year. Robredo, speaking on her weekly radio show, told her supporters to refrain from doing the same practice as those from a rival political camp. “Huwag na tayo gumastos para lang ipromote ako, i-promote yun pangalan natin. Better na po huwag tayong gumaya sa ginagawa ng iba kasi iba naman iyong paniniwala natin (Let’s not spend to promote me, promote my name. It’s better if we don’t follow what others are doing because we have a different belief),” she said. The vice president stressed that her followers should divert from traditional politics and focus on what will be good for the country and not for one person alone. “We want to change how it is. We want to change the things we used to do to be better, especially we are still in a time of crisis,” she added in Filipino. Robredo repeated her appeal to her supporters in light of the nationwide campaign they conducted over the weekend. They have been supporting her still unsure presidential run in the May 2022 polls.
Photo: Hanging Coffins, Sagada, Mt. Province, Philippines
Photo Source: By Jungarcia888 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21146902
