Sunday, March 14, 2021

Public urged to observe health measures. Inquirer Newsletter. March 15, 2021.

GOD'S GIFT Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle thanks Pope Francis and the Catholic Church for sharing the Christian faith with Filipinos, saying it has become a source of hope to a country riven by poverty, economic inequality, political upheavals and calamities, during the Sunday Mass celebrated by the Pontiff marking 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines at St. Peter's Basilica.

World

‘Unusual symptoms’ noted after inoculation

OSLO—Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, Norwegian health authorities said on Saturday. —Story by REUTERS

Board Talk

Agri-food processing hubs in Asean

Many countries survive on importing raw materials and exporting the finished food products. Prime example is Switzerland, which imports cocoa beans and exports fine chocolates. The same is true for Belgium, Spain and Ukraine. The four do not produce cocoa beans. —Story by INQ

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Public urged to observe health measures

By Dona Z. Pazzibugan

The Philippines’ internists on Sunday urged strict compliance with public health measures to arrest the increase in COVID-19 cases, as the country cannot afford another lockdown.

“How do we deal with the current surge? We cannot endure another lockdown because of its dire socioeconomic impact. We need to change our behavior,” the Philippine College of Physicians said in a statement.

The doctors’ group said cases were increasing nearly as fast as the infection rates in July last year when daily cases were hitting nearly 5,000 and overburdened health workers cried for “timeout.”

“We let our guard down. More health-care workers are getting sick, hospital beds are again becoming less available. The [medical] front-liners who haven’t fully recovered from exhaustion might struggle again to face another battle,” the group said.

“We still need to intensify our compliance [with] the minimum health standards to prevent further spread [of the coronavirus], knowing that [its] variants coexist. Stay home if you can. Continue adherence to the minimum health standards even while at home. Wash your hands. Wear your mask and face shield. Keep distance from others,” it said.

On Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded 4,899 coronavirus infections, the second highest single-day count this year and the third consecutive day of more than 4,000 cases. The additional infections brought the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 621,498.

The DOH reported 63 more deaths, 16 of whom were previously tagged as recovered, raising the death toll to 12,829.

This was the fourth straight day of more than 50 reported deaths.

Following its “mass recovery” system, the DOH declared 13,371 people with mild or no symptoms as recovered after observing a two-week quarantine, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 560,512.

The deaths and recoveries left the country with 48,157 active cases, of which 91.8 percent were mild, 4.2 percent asymptomatic, 0.8 percent moderate, 1.6 percent severe, and 1.6 percent critical. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE AND MARICAR CINCO INQ

Editorial

No more ‍concession

In the interest of fairness and transparency, the NTC needs to conduct a rigorous, honest-to-goodness performance audit based on what Dito Telecommunity is obligated to undertake.

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net