IN FOCUS | Issue No. 2 | August-December 2020

3 NEWS
UP TO DATE: COVID-19 in the Philippines
silent but deadly plague
creeps among the bustling
communities
Aand crowded streets
around the world. The SARS-CoV-2,
the causative agent of the COVID-19,
is the defining global health crisis of
our time. As a response to this, several
measures were imposed to mitigate
the spread of the disease in
the country, including bans on travel
and imposition of preventive quarantine
measures. But it started to loosen
up as a reaction to the declining
economy of the Philippines, hence,
GCQ and MECQ were implemented.
Here’s the latest update as
some areas shift into Modified Enhanced
Community Quarantine and
General Community Quarantine.
May 31, 2020 – The Enhanced community
quarantine in Luzon ends, as
most localities downgrade to either
general community quarantine or modified
general community quarantine.
July 14, 2020 – Several Metro Manila
hospitals reached full capacity,
making the regions of Central Visayas,
Calabarzon, Davao Region, and
Central Luzon classified under “danger
zone” concerning bed capacity.
August 2, 2020 - Frontliners and medical
groups advocated a “timeout” to
President Rodrigo R. Duterte to revert
Metro Manila on ECQ as COVID-19
cases surge. A modified enhanced
community quarantine (MECQ) was
placed in places with high cases from
August 4 to 18 as a response to the
petition of medical frontliners requesting
an ECQ in Metro Manila.
November 26, 2020 – The Senate
approved Php 4.5-T 2021 national
budget which includes increased
funding for COVID-19 vaccines, continued
contact tracing operations,
and budgets of regional public hospitals
including bed capacity and
equipment and facilities upgrade
December 2, 2020 - A vaccine made
by drug giant Pfizer with German biotech
firm BioNTech became the first
fully-tested immunization to be approved,
and this has been put into
the arms of thousands of U.S. healthcare
workers for the past weeks
in a massive nationwide rollout.
December 15, 2020 - The Malacañang
announced a dry run for face-to-face
classes that will be held from January
11 to 23, 2021. Participating school officials
and representatives will undergo
orientation, mobilization, and readiness
confirmation on January 4-8 before
the pilot implementation starts.
December 19, 2020 - DFA secretary
Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Senator
Panfilo Lacson blasted the failure of the
Department of Health (DOH) to secure
necessary documentary requirements
including the Confidentiality Disclosure
Agreement (CDA) that put the country’s
acquisition of 10 million doses of
the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in limbo.
This was confirmed by Locsin after a
meeting with the Ambassador to the
US Jose Manuel Romualdez, and the
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
and the country’s vaccine czar Carlito
Galvez Jr. later denied all the allegations,
saying that they didn’t drop
the ball and the apparent negotiation
for the said vaccine is still ongoing.
December 21, 2020 – The COVID-19
cases in the Philippines has now
reached 459,789 cases with reported
1,754 additional cases on Sunday, December
20. The DOH reported 36 new
deaths due to the coronavirus disease,
bringing the death toll to 8,947, while
recoveries are up by 8,080, raising total
recoveries to 429,134. Of the total cases,
21,708 are active. Metro Manila hospitals
are bracing for a possible surge
of COVID-19 cases after the holidays.
December 23, 2020 – Malacañang suspended
incoming flights from the UK
from December 24–31, 2020, over the
fear of the new and more infectious
coronavirus variant, VOC-202012/01
(Variant of Concern 202012/01)
or also known as lineage B.1.1.7.
December 26, 2020 - President Duterte
applauded the country’s medical
experts on their efforts to battle
against the disease including its
newly reported strain. Thus, Malacañang
canceled its order that allows
face-to-face classes in January 2021
over the threat of the new variant.
December 28, 2020 - While the government
has yet to approve the use of any
COVID-19 vaccine, some Duterte Cabinet
officials and soldiers are already vaccinated
against the novel coronavirus.
December 31, 2020 - Philippines ends
2020 with 474,064 COVID-19 cases. The
DOH reported 14 new deaths due to the
coronavirus disease, bringing the death
toll to 9,244. Meanwhile, recoveries are
up by 296, raising the total to 439,796.
January 2, 2021 - DOH: No case of
new COVID-19 variant in PH The Department
of Health (DOH) clarified
that the new COVID-19 variant has
not reached the Philippine shores yet.
January 6, 2021 - In a virtual press
briefing, Hong Kong health officials
said they have detected 4 cases
of the new variant in their country.
Among the cases is a 30-year-old female
Hong Kong resident, who returned
from Manila on December 22
via PR 300. Meanwhile, DOH firmly
by Kate Frances Xyra Dorado
stated the presence of B.1.1.7 strain in
the country has not yet been detected.
January 12, 2021 - The Philippines finally
imposed travel restrictions on
China nearly two weeks after the
Asian giant detected its first case of
the new SARS-CoV-2 variant. Apart
from China, the same restrictions
were announced for Jamaica, Luxembourg,
Oman, and Pakistan. The
country now has extended travel
bans to 35 countries and territories.
January 13, 2021 - Philippine Genome
Center (PGC) together with DOH officially
confirmed that the more contagious
B.1.17 virus variant already
reached the country when a swab test
from a 29-year old businessman from
Kamuning, Quezon City who arrived
on January 7, 2021 from UAE yielded
a positive result to the variant. The patient
experienced pneumonia while his
female partner had a negative result.
January 17, 2021 - In less than a year
after its first reported case, the country
breached 500,000 mark on the number
of COVID-19 cases as DOH reported
Webinar on SARS-CoV-2
Diagnostic Testing
from Page 1
and, Mr. Angelo Christian O. de
Guzman, RMT, SO1, who volunteered
at the Manila HealthTek, Inc.
The webinar’s sole panel
discussant, Ms. Geraldine B. Dayrit,
RMT, MSc, DRDM, the event’s moderator,
Atty. Jean Joan D. Polido, MD,
the CMT Dean, Dr. Maria Teresa T.
Rodriguez, EdD, RMT, and the Graduate
School Dean, Dr. Juliet Bucoy,
PhD, RSW shared their insights about
the topic, conversed, and imparted
their knowledge to the audience.
From the introduction to the
interpretation of laboratory test results,
the webinar provided information
about the COVID-19 pandemic.
It focuses on the disease’s epidemiological
and geographical history, a
timeline of notable viral respiratory
outbreaks, and an update on the
current situation of COVID-19 in the
country and the world. The speakers
also talked about the mode of transmission
of the virus, the clinical presentations
and manifestations, the
effective interventions to prevent
COVID-19, and the updated interim
guidelines on the expanded testing
of COVID-19. They also expressed
their experience of volunteering
January 20, 2021 - The girlfriend and
mother of the man confirmed to be
the first case of the new SARS-CoV-2
variant in the Philippines was tested
positive for COVID-19, confirmed by
the DOH. Aside from the two household
members, 10 co-passengers of the
index case aboard Emirates Flight No.
EK 332, and one frontliner who attended
to the patient also tested positive.
Since the Philippines confirmed its first
COVID-19 case in January last year, a total
of 10,042 people have succumbed to
the disease after the DOH confirmed 64
more deaths in its latest report. 1,862
more individuals were infected, raising
the country’s case count to 505,939.
Recoveries also reached 466,993 after
765 were added to the tally.
Several local government units
(LGUs) have welcomed the new year
by announcing they have allocated millions
in funds to give their residents free
COVID-19 vaccines. In February, the
Philippines plans to launch its biggest
mass immunization campaign yet, as it
prepares to roll out the coronavirus vaccines
that could end the health emergency.
The campaign aims to cover from
50%-70% Filipinos in three to five years.
during the time of the pandemic
and gave the viewers salient points.
“I value the Medical Technologists
and the technology that
they use. I can see and feel the
things they do to save their patients’
lives. This webinar provides
an avenue where all medical professionals,
not just Medical Technologists,
who are listening right now
have conversed. I am happy and
impressed with how they organized
the event. Congratulations to all of
you for this success,” Dr. Bucoy said.
Halfway into the fight for
our safety and health, the threats
and mechanisms of COVID-19 are
still not known by most people. The
primary objective of the university
is to educate individuals and spread
knowledge, even at the convenience
of their own homes. The entire event
was a success by providing an engaging,
insightful, and important topic.
It acted as an educational forum
that shared and valued information.
The conversation and presentations
were bridges to obtain deeper
knowledge, taking into account that
learning is a phase that never ends.