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 vaccine development?
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
PH COVID-19 cases hit 561,000
The Philippines now has 561,169 confirmed COVID-19 cases after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,888 new cases on Sunday, February 21.
The DOH reported 20 new deaths due to the coronavirus disease, bringing the death toll to 12,088, while the recoveries are up by 9,737, raising total recoveries to 522,843.
Of the total cases, 26,238 are active.
Experts see slight upward trend in Metro Manila COVID-19 cases
There is a slight upward trend in the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila based on the numbers reported by the Department of Health (DOH) since January this year, the Octa Research Group said in its report published Saturday, February 20.
This means that while there is no significant upward or downward movement in the overall trend in the Philippines or Metro Manila, the reproduction rate (R) in Metro Manila – or the number of people that one COVID-19 positive case can infect – increased to 1.13 over the past week.
Full story here.
DOH: COVID-19 ‘variant of concern’ in Cebu City not yet cause for alarm
The detection of a “variant of concern” in Cebu City should not be a cause for alarm just yet as the government is still studying it, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Saturday, February 20.
Full story here.
Roque: If approved, face-to-face classes may be done for a few hours
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday, February 19, that face-to-face classes may only be conducted for a few hours should President Rodrigo Duterte approve the proposal.
“We are not saying that just because there are face-to-face classes, they will already be held for 8 hours, 5 days a week. The classes can only be conducted for an hour or up to 3 hours per week. The face-to-face classes will still be in combination with modules and computer-aided classes,” Roque said in Filipino during a televised briefing.
Duterte and his Cabinet members will discuss the possible resumption of face-to-face classes on February 22, Roque added. (READ: Are PH schools ready for face-to-face classes during pandemic?)
Janssen starts COVID-19 clinical trials in PH
Janssen Pharmaceutica has started Phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccines in the country, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said.
The DOST earlier said that the following cities were the target sites of the Janssen trials: San Pablo, Laguna; Cabuyao, Laguna; Makati City; La Paz, Iloilo; and Bacolod City.
Batangas has P4B standby fund to fight COVID-19 – governor
Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas refuted an earlier report by a news agency saying that the province of Batangas has no fund for the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Hindi totoo, false news ang lumabas dito sa DZMM Teleradyo…na ang nakalagay, kahapon, na ang lalawigan ng Batangas ay wala pa ring pondo pambili ng COVID vaccine. ‘Yan ay hindi katotohanan,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
(It’s not true; what DZMM Teleradyo said yesterday about the province of Batangas not having COVID vaccine funds is false news.)
Mandanas said that the provincial government has a daily fund of P1B with LandBank and DBP and a standby fund of P4B to fight COVID-19.
“Kayang-kaya na ipaganap sa lalawigan ng Batangas ang ating patakaran tungkol sa vaccine implementation program,” he added.
(We have the capacity to implement the policies for Batangas’ vaccine program.)
Mandanas said all Batangas residents will be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine for free. It will be voluntary and will follow the protocols set forth by the national government.
In recent meetings of the Batangas Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19, committees have been formed to operationalize the Batangas COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center for the administration and implementation of the National Immunization Program against COVID-19.
It will be led by the Batangas Provincial Health Office as chairperson and the Department of Interior and Local Government as co-chairperson.
Other committees include Planning, Campaign Management, and Technical Team, which will release important information to the public, perform capacity building for vaccination managers, and gather and analyze data for submission to the regional vaccination operations center.
The Finance, Cold Chain, and Logistics Team will ensure the proper delivery and storage of vaccines, budget management, and supply chain.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Team will lead the coordination between authorities of the provincial government and local government units.
A Vaccine Safety, Surveillance, and Response Team will also be formed to lead case investigation and data analysis while the Communications, Advocacy, and Partnership Team will ensure that proper information and regulations reach the communities in the province.
Cebu archbishop tests positive for COVID-19
Archbishop Jose Palma tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday evening, February 18.
Monsignor Joseph Tan, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu, confirmed this at around 10 am Friday.
The Archbishop is currently under medical care at the Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu City.