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3 cities, 15 towns in Pampanga log zero new COVID-19 cases

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3 cities, 15 towns in Pampanga log zero new COVID-19 cases

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MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga––The three cities in Pampanga and 15 of its 19 towns registered no new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Nov. 21), data from local health offices showed.

This city and nearby Angeles City had zero new cases on Saturday and Sunday, while the provincial capital of San Fernando recorded no new cases on Sunday, its first time in several months.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1518332/3-cities-15-towns-in-pampanga-log-zero-new-covid-19-cases#ixzz7FHRF9V5G

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MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga--The three cities in Pampanga and 15 of its 19 towns registered no new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Nov. 21), data from local health offices showed.

This city and nearby Angeles City had zero new cases on Saturday and Sunday, while the provincial capital of San Fernando recorded no new cases on Sunday, its first time in several months.

Data from the provincial epidemiology and surveillance unit showed that Magalang, Guagua, Porac, Sasmuan, Sta. Rita, Arayat, Bacolor, Sta. Ana, Candaba, Macabebe, Masantol, Minalin, San Simon, San Luis, and Sto. Tomas towns also had zero new cases on Sunday.

Apalit town registered a single case, while Lubao and Mexico recorded two and three new cases, respectively. Floridablanca did not submit an update on the same day.

As of Sunday, Mabalacat has 14 active cases, while Angeles City has 18 and San Fernando has 45.

Pampanga, excluding the highly urbanized Angeles City, has 239 active cases.

The province has recorded 46,491 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began last year. Of these, 43,781 had recovered, while 2,471 had died.

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3 cities, 15 towns in Pampanga log zero new COVID-19 cases

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MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga--The three cities in Pampanga and 15 of its 19 towns registered no new COVID-19 cases on Sunday (Nov. 21), data from local health offices showed. This city and nearby Angeles City had zero new cases on Saturday and Sunday, while the provincial capital of San Fernando recorded no new cases on Sunday, its first time in several months.

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Duterte approved postponement of nat'l vax drive in some areas dude to Odette - Año

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Duterte approved postponement of nat'l vax drive in some areas dude to Odette - Año

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President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposal to move the second round of national vaccination drive in some areas due to the threat of Tropical Storm Rai, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday.

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COVID-19 ‘OMICRON’ VARIANT SPARKS GLOBAL FEARS Virus hits San Francisco

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COVID-19 ‘OMICRON’ VARIANT SPARKS GLOBAL FEARS Virus hits San Francisco

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MANILA/SAN FRANCISCO —Even as COVID-19 cases have drastically dropped to its lowest level following expanded vaccination that now includes young kids and booster shots to those who had completed two jabs, government and health authorities in the Philippines, including those in the private sector, have started scrambling for measures to detect and stop the possible entry or spread of the new dread variant called Omicron.

Immediately, the government barred people coming in from South Africa where the variant was first discovered and six neighboring countries, namely, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini and  Mozambique.

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By ALFRED GABOT, Editor in Chief
MANILA/SAN FRANCISCO -Even as COVID-19 cases have drastically dropped to its lowest level following expanded vaccination that now includes young kids and booster shots to those who had completed two jabs, government and health authorities in the Philippines, including those in the private sector, have started scrambling for measures to detect and stop the possible entry or spread of the new dread variant called Omicron.

Immediately, the government barred people coming in from South Africa where the variant was first discovered and six neighboring countries, namely, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique.

(See related story)

Philippine health officials also tightened surveillance on possible carriers of the Omicron variant, resulting to the isolation and forced quarantine of a Filipino and two foreigners who arrived from South Africa and flew to Bacolod City and Negros Occidental where they serve as power consultants.

To prevent the possible spread of the Omicron variant, the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) said around 63 Filipinos from red list countries or areas that are at high risk for COVID-19 transmission are also at the quarantine facilities.

At press time, over a dozen countries and territories have detected cases, including Australia, Britain, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Brazil Portugal and Japan, triggering global alarm.

Latin America reported its first two cases Tuesday - in people who travelled from South Africa to Brazil - and first cases were confirmed in Japan, one day after it barred all foreign arrivals.

California's first Omicron variant was also detected in a South Africa traveller, according to the Communicable Diseases Center (CDC) and California state officials.

The Omicron variant has propelled a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in South Africa in recent weeks, the country's health officials reported to the Parliament, calling the situation "worrying".

South Africa was the first country to detect Omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus with a high number of mutations, reporting its first cases on November 25 to the World Health Organization.

The discovery of Omicron has caused global alarm, with countries limiting travel from southern Africa for fear it could spread quickly even in vaccinated populations and the World Health Organization saying it carries a high risk of infection surges.

In another development, Philippine private hospitals have been alerted to prepare for a possible spike in COVID-19 infections over fears of the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, according to Dr. Jose Rene De Grano, president of Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc.

The PHA president assured that the hospitals have now ample supplies of oxygen and vacant beds amid a drop in COVID-19 cases in the country.

"Handa po ang mga private hospitals kung magkaroon man ulit ng mga bagong surge o bagong cases ng COVID (Private hospitals are prepared in case there will be a surge or new cases of COVID.)," he added.

Meanwhile, vaccination against coronavirus should be made mandatory, said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the chairman of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 as the country wrapped up its 3-day inoculation drive.

"Yes, it should be mandatory. Everyone should contribute to the health of the community. Those unvaccinated are vulnerable of getting the virus and getting seriously sick. They not only burden the state by their hospitalization but will also spread the virus around," he said.

"Mahirap kung walang batas (It's hard without a law). However, we can impose restrictions to unvaccinated people," he added.

The Philippines has so far fully vaccinated 35.9 million against COVID-19, while 46.3 million have received an initial dose and 233,949 have received a third dose or a booster shot.

It has so far immunized 5 million more during the National Vaccination Days from Monday to Wednesday. Another 3-day vaccination event is eyed to be held from Dec. 15 to 17.

Later, WHO warned blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread of Omicron, as more countries rushed to impose curbs and the first cases of the new COVID strain were detected in Latin America, adding that "blanket" travel bans risked doing more harm than good, just as Canada expanded its restrictions.

The country's total number of recovered coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases has reached 2,768,999 after 951 new recoveries were reported on Wednesday.

In its latest case bulletin, the Department of Health (DOH) noted that recoveries account for 97.7 percent of the total case count which has reached 2,833,038 since the start of the pandemic last year.

Meanwhile, some 500 new infections brought the total number of active cases nationwide to 15,327 - lower than Tuesday's 15,800 active infections.

Wednesday's new infections, however, are slightly higher than Tuesday's 425 - the lowest single-day tally of new infections this year.

About 756 of these active cases are asymptomatic, 7,183 are mild, 1,067 are critical, 2,489 are severe, and 3,832 are moderate.

Some 167 new deaths were reported which brought the country's Covid-19 fatalities to 48,712.

Dr. Guido David of independent research group OCTA said most parts of the country could shift to Alert Level 1, the loosest of the current quarantine restrictions, if there was no threat of the new variant named Omicron.

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COVID-19 'OMICRON' VARIANT SPARKS GLOBAL FEARS Virus hits San Francisco; PHL on alert, sets travel ban

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By ALFRED GABOT, Editor in Chief MANILA/SAN FRANCISCO -Even as COVID-19 cases have drastically dropped to its lowest level following expanded vaccination that now includes young kids and booster shots to those who had completed two jabs, government and health authorities in the Philippines, including those in the private sector, have started scrambling for measures to detect and stop the possible entry or spread of the new dread variant called Omicron.

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Duterte orders price cap of more medicines, drugs

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Duterte orders price cap of more medicines, drugs

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In the Philippines, MANILA, President Rodrigo Duterte, ordered the "price cap" of more drugs, for the leading causes of Morbidity in the country. On Tuesday Duterte signed, Executive Order No. 155.
SOURCE: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1525339/duterte-orders-price-cap-of-more-medicines-drugs

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Duterte orders price cap of more medicines, drugs

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MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the price cap of more drugs for the leading causes of the morbidity in the country, Malacañang said Wednesday. Duterte signed on

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A new Philippine Eagle has hatched. It is said to be the fastest time of hatching for a Philippine Eagle in a conservation center in Davao City as for it only took around 25 hours to hatch.

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At least 15 people died when Typhoon Odette hit the surfing capital of Siargao.

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Typhoon Odette (Rai) in Surigao del Norte.

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Typhoon Odette (Rai) in Surigao del Norte.

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If you didn’t know, Siargao is an island in Surigao del Norte and is known as the “Surfing Capital of the Philippines.” People go there for the beach and wander in its water.

Surigao del Norte Governor Francisco Matugas was trapped with his wife in the San Isidro Municipal Hall when the typhoon made landfall. “We sought shelter at the San Isidro Municipal Hall. This is my second life now.” In General Luna Town, Mayor Cecilia Rusillon said as she was teary-eyed, “Please help me tell the world that General Luna is now in its worst situation. We were badly hit.” Siargao has no electricity and they’re running out of water, medicines, and food. The typhoon destroyed many homes which left families depressed. There were even tourists stranded on the island. Those stranded tourists were in high spirits because the bigger the PLA plane meant, many would be able to fly out of the island. There were planes that got there with relief goods and Nelson Calipes organized a community pantry. There were roads blocked by fallen trees and electricity poles after the landfall and they were accessible around 4pm after a massive cleaning process by people from the local government. Typhoon Odette did not only affect Surigao del Norte – it affected many other places in the Philippines like Bohol and Negros. They are in poor condition as if they are not even recognizable anymore and the people are desperate for help.

I was aware after seeing posts of the disasters happening in Mindanao on TikTok and they said that we can donate money to help. After listening to videos, I heard horrifying sounds of the wind howling, the rumbling rainstorm, and strong lightning. In the videos, I saw houses that were flooded with dirty water, I saw roofs disattach and fly from the top of houses. Everything was destroyed. I can’t imagine how frightened I would be in a serious and daunting situation like this. Let us all pray for the safety of everyone. God shall guide them with protection.

Research from: https://www.rappler.com/nation/typhoon-odette-death-toll-siargao-island-december-19-2021/

-Tin-Tin Mendiola

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"But right now, there is no need at this very low transmission level na idagdag natin yung face shield." states Dr. Alethea De Guzman from the Department of Health

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"But right now, there is no need at this very low transmission level na idagdag natin yung face shield." states Dr. Alethea De Guzman from the Department of Health

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The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) states that Filipinos don't need to wear face shields again despite the new COVID variant, Omicron for now.

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Good morning!