WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
How many people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Philippines? How many have recovered, and how many have died? What is President Rodrigo Duterte doing about it? What should the public expect in terms of the economy and the vaccine rollout?
Bookmark and refresh this page for the latest news updates, opinion articles, and analysis pieces about the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.
LATEST UPDATES
Bacolod beefs up COVID-19 testing, vaccinations
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The city government of Bacolod through its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is maximizing its efforts on coronavirus testing and vaccinations.
The EOC continues to conduct surveillance testings in various areas, including the Bacolod City Police Office after some of its police officers were tested positive for the virus, Mayor Evelio Leonardia, chair of EOC, said. Those who tested positive were immediately placed under isolation.
Leonardia said testing plays a key role in the city government’s efforts to prevent the spread of the virus by identifying infected individuals, thus, preventing further transmission.
The city government started to roll out the COVID-19 vaccinations for senior citizens on April 23, with 408 elderly residents receiving the first batch of Sinovac doses at the lobby of the Government Center. The second and third batches were inoculated Monday, April 26, and Tuesday, April 27.
“This vaccination is our only way out of this pandemic and the means to restart our economic recovery,” the mayor said.
Meanwhile, City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of EOC, stressed that the EOC strongly discourages holding of social gatherings and dining out with those who are not members of the same household.
“It is important to avoid mixing people in one place at the same time because it is one key factor of spreading Covid-19 infection,” Ang said.
Duque: No travel ban on Filipinos from India
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Tuesday, April 27, that there is no travel ban on Filipinos returning to the Philippines from India amid the COVID-19 surge in that country.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Duque said that the government coronavirus task force has yet to discuss its latest move on the COVID-19 India variant – called B1617 – which is believed to be driving the surge in infections in India.
“The Philippine Genome Center has not reported to the IATF whether this has evolved to become a variant of concern. It is still considered a variant under investigation. And the same is true with the WHO’s take on this particular Indian variant, which is not confined [to] India and was discovered in other countries as well,” Duque said.
Duque said that there is a travel ban on foreigners coming into the country, but they have yet to take up the fate of overseas Filipino workers and returning overseas Filipinos.
On Monday, April 26, India logged over 352,000 new infections of COVID-19, setting another world record for daily cases of the deadly disease.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters on Monday, April 26, that the India variant of COVID-19 has not been detected in the over 5,000 samples that underwent genome sequencing in the Philippines.
2 more hospitals get limited use permits for ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment
FDA Director General Eric Domingo on Tuesday, April 27, confirmed to Rappler that it has issued limited use permits to two more hospitals to use ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment.
A compassionate special permit allows for the limited use of investigational drugs or unregistered drugs. The use of the drug is also limited to the hospital to which the permit is granted, which means it cannot be sold in the market.
Having this permit does not guarantee that the drug is proven effective or already recommended by the FDA. To date, at least 5 hospitals have received a CSPs.
Moderna applies for emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine in Philippines
American drug firm Moderna has filed an application for emergency use authorization of its coronavirus vaccine in the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday, April 26.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo confirmed this in a message to Rappler, saying the application was filed on Monday afternoon.
Moderna is the eighth vaccine company to apply for emergency use of its vaccine in the country.
Read more here.
Paperwork issues stall COVID-19 vaccine distribution to LGUs
Malacañang confirmed on Monday, April 26, that the new batch of vaccines from China’s Sinovac has yet to be distributed to local government units (LGUs) due to paperwork issues.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was referring to the 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered by China’s Sinovac on April 22, as part of the total 25 million CoronaVac doses purchased by the Philippine government.
“Iyong dumating na [500,000 doses], nalaman ko na hindi pa natin nadi-distribute iyan, kasi humihingi sila ng certificate of analysis, para masigurado na iyong dumarating na batch ng Sinovac is of the same standard,” Roque said in a televised press briefing.
(I found out that we have yet to distribute the 500,000 new doses because the Food and Drug Administration is asking for a certificate of analysis from Sinovac to ensure that the new batch of vaccines is of the same standard as the previous shipments.)
Read the full story here.
DOH backs MECQ extension in ‘NCR Plus’ after April 30
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday, April 26, supported a proposal to extend implementing the second strictest form of coronavirus lockdown in Metro Manila and 4 surrounding provinces for one to two more weeks.
In an interview with TeleRadyo, Duque said extending the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna – an area called “NCR Plus” – can help decongest hospitals in these areas.
“If we look at the data, I think we need to keep MECQ for another week or two because our health systems’ capacity hasn’t significantly improved yet. Several cities still have their ICU capacities at critical risk classification,” Duque said in Filipino.
Read the full story here.
COVID-19 variant found in Northern Mindanao as cases surge
Health officials detected in Northern Mindanao the new COVID-19 variant that was first found in Central Visayas in March.
The P3 variant of COVID-19 appeared to spread faster, and made coughing and muscle pain symptoms more prominent among those infected, said Dr Jerie Calingasan, Misamis Oriental provincial health chief, in an interview with the Cagayan de Oro-based Magnum Radio on Monday, April 26.
Iligan City recorded at least 3 cases of P3 infections, confirmed Dr. Belinda Lim, the city’s acting city health officer, in a public advisory on April 21.
“We are currently experiencing a surge in the confirmed COVID-19 cases,” said Lim.
Philippines reaches grim milestone of 1 million COVID-19 cases
The Philippines on Monday, April 26, reached a grim milestone as COVID-19 cases in the country breached the 1-million mark.
The Department of Health (DOH) tallied 8,929 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, bringing total cases in the country to 1,006,428. From the peak of 203,710 active cases on April 17, it went down to 74,623 on Monday.
