Philippines
Philippines
COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic: Latest situation in the Philippines – May 2021

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COVID-19 pandemic: Latest situation in the Philippines – May 2021

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

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PH logs over 8,000 COVID-19 cases, highest since May 1

PH logs over 8,000 COVID-19 cases, highest since May 1

DOH bulletin: COVID-19 cases as of May 28, 2021

DOH: No WHO ‘official’ statement yet on community transmission of new variants

Bonz Magsambol

The Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday, May 28, that there was no “official” statement yet from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the supposed community transmission of UK and South Africa variants of COVID-19 in the so-called “NCR Plus.”

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire issued the statement after WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in an interview with a local news outlet that “there is some degree to community transmission” of the two COVID-19 variants in the “NCR Plus.”

“We still have not received from WHO an official statement to inform us that based on their assessment, there is already community transmission among these variants that we have already detected here in our country,” Vergeire said. 

Philippines among countries to receive US surplus vaccines

Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said the donation is part of President Joe Biden’s earlier pledge to donate 80 million vaccines to different countries.

Read more.

DOT nixes testing requirement for accredited ‘staycation’ hotels

Pia Ranada

Hotels allowed by the Department of Tourism to operate as “staycation” accommodations need not require guests to present COVID-19 test results, announced Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday, May 28.

This was the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases in their meeting on Thursday, May 27. 

According to Roque, these hotels just have to make sure that only persons aged 18 to 65 are allowed as guests. These DOT-accredited hotels operating as staycation hotels can now also accommodate guests up to 100% of venue capacity, said Roque.

Meanwhile, hotels in general community quarantine can only have guests for leisure purposes who take up a maximum of 30% of their capacity.

LGUs urge Duterte to prioritize more cities for COVID-19 vaccines

Priority areas should go beyond “NCR Plus,” Cebu, and Davao, said the League of Cities of the Philippines.

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Outbound OFWs, health workers’ families moved up vaccine priority list

Overseas Filipino workers to be deployed within four months of their target vaccination date are now part of the top priority group.

Read more.

Gov’t specifies workers eligible for A4 vaccination, ‘NCR Plus 8’ goes first

Local governments are also allowed to prioritize the vaccination of economic frontliners aged 40 to 59.

Read more.

DOH bulletin: COVID-19 cases as of May 27, 2021

Mayor Moreno wants Cagayan de Oro reverted to GCQ

Herbie Gomez

Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno on Thursday, May 27, called on the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to impose stricter quarantine measures in the city that include limiting people’s movements in the wake of the surging COVID-19 cases.

Moreno said he was preparing an official letter to ask the IATF to raise Cagayan de Oro’s quarantine status to general community quarantine (GCQ). The city is currenly under the least strict modified GCQ.

Read more.