PNP files raps vs. mayor, others for ‘fake’ COVID-19 case in Cavite
28 March 2020
The Philippine National Police has filed criminal charges against Cavite’s Noveleta mayor, and other personalities for allegedly spreading “fake” reports and social media posts of a purported COVID-19 case in Cavite City.
In a statement, the PNP Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit (RACU) in Region IV-A (CALABARZON) said it acted on the complaint of the Cavite City government, alleging that Noveleta Mayor Dino Reyes Chua was behind the spread of “fake” information on the alleged first COVID-19 case in the city.
DOH clarifies ‘faulty test kits’ not from China
30 March 2020
During a press conference, Vergeire mentioned that the first batch of test kits from China yielded only 40% accuracy and therefore did not allow its use.
In response, Beijing through its embassy in Manila clarified that the test kits passed the standards.
The Embassy said it immediately checked with DOH which clarified that the two batches of 2,000 BGI PCR-type test kits and 100,000 Sansure PCR-type test kits donated by the Chinese government have been assessed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to be at par with the World Health Organization provided kits.
“And those test kits are of high quality and standards and have no accuracy problems,” the China Embassy in Manila said in a statement.
Anger at P500/day allowance for medical volunteers about more than money, advocates say
29 March 2020
Groups have slammed the P500/day compensation on social media, saying the amount makes medical frontliners seem unimportant.
“We’d like to ask for forgiveness if the impression given by the P500 daily allowance was that this was the value we regarded our health workers with,” DOH Undersecretary Rosette Vergeire said in Filipino in an online press conference Saturday night.
“This could not be further from the truth. That P500 we added to our protocol, that’s allowance so our health workers have everyday provisions.”
PNP says it will stop jailing curfew violators – for now
28 March 2020
The police will instead keep the incident reports and file complaints after the crisis, says PNP Deputy Chief for Operations Lt Gen Guillermmo Eleazar.
About 75% of cities, towns in Philippines lack health workers
28 March 2020
A study of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies suggests policy actions to address the uneven distribution of healthcare workers.
Early COVID-19 test kits from China only 40% accurate – DOH
28 March 2020
“Sa mga naunang ipinadala sa amin na test kits from China na nakapag-pakita ng 40 percent accuracy, hindi po natin ito ginamit dahil nakita na nga po mababa po ang accuracy natin dito kaya ito na lang po ay ating itinago,” Vergeire said in a briefing.
The undersecretary, meanwhile, assured the public that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine conducted parallel testing of test kits, and only those that produced the same results as the test kits provided by the World Health Organization were eventually cleared for use.
“Sa kaso po ng mga test kits from China, sabay po’ng isinasagawa ang test kits mula sa China at ang test kits ng WHO, gamit ang pareho po’ng samples or specimens na nailagay,” Vergeire said.
Overloaded: Some major Metro Manila hospitals unable to receive more COVID-19 patients
24 March 2020
At least 4 major private hospitals in Metro Manila announced they were no longer ready to receive more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients due to overcapacity, as medical centers became overwhelmed with the pandemic.
PNP unmasks 4 fake news purveyors on COVID-19
24 March 2020
The Philippine National Police has filed criminal charges against four (4) suspects for allegedly spreading false reports and information on Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that caused panic amid the battle against the pandemic.
Trump halts World Health Organization funding over handling of coronavirus outbreak
15 April 2020
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the World Health Organization while a review is conducted.
Trump said the review would cover the WHO’s “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus.”
Coronavirus: Countries reject Chinese-made equipment
30 March 2020
Thousands of testing kits and medical masks are below standard or defective, according to authorities in Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.
Europe has reported hundreds of thousands of cases of coronavirus.
More than 10,000 people have died in Italy since the outbreak began.