By JULIA MARI ORNEDO, GMA News
Published May 12, 2021 11:18am The Department of Health on Wednesday said it was verifying the COVID-19 test results of 13 co-passengers of a seafarer who tested positive for the B.1.617 coronavirus variant first detected in India. Vergeire added that the COVID-19 case was one of two returning overseas Filipinos found to have the B.1.617 variant. “‘Yun po ang tinitingnan natin sa ngayon. Meron po tayong 13 pasahero na tinitingnan at bine-verify po natin kung ano ‘yung mga naging resulta ng kanilang mga RT-PCR when they arrived here,” she told CNN Philippines. [We are monitoring the results of the RT-PCR test of the 13 co-passengers.]
By HANA BORDEY, GMA News
Published May 12, 2021 10:23am
Nayong Pilipino Foundation property in Parañaque, Metro Manila. Screencap from Nayong Pilipino Foundation video Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday expressed support to the plan to use Nayong Pilipino as a temporary COVID-19 mega vaccination site. “I have already agreed in principle that this facility will be used temporarily as a huge vaccination center to speed up our vaccination coverage,” he said in an ANC interview. The Health chief emphasized the need to ramp up the vaccination program of the government with a target of 500,000 jabs per day nationwide and 120,000 vaccinees per day in the National Capital Region.
May 11, 2021
Health Secretary Francisco Duque boasted the improving state of health care utilization rate in the country despite the continued increase in COVID-19 cases.
According to Duque’s report in the president’s weekly Talk to the Nation, overall, the Philippines is in a low-risk classification as the 2-week growth rate has dropped to -22 percent and the average daily attack rate per 100,000 population.
The National Capital Region is said to be at moderate risk as the 2-week growth rate has dropped to -39 percent and the daily attack rate has dropped to 19.02 percent from the previous 30.98 percent.
But Duque reminded that although the situation in the country is improving when it comes to COVID-19 cases, it still cannot be relaxed as there are ten regions that have recorded an increase in the 2-week growth rate.
Published May 11, 2021, 2:37 PM
Malacañang on Tuesday, May 11, said it has yet to be determined whether there is community transmission of the Indian COVID-19 variant B.1.617 in the country to warrant the extension of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the National Capital Region Plus (NCR Plus) bubble.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque (OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on the same day that there are two cases of India’s double-mutant variant in the Philippines. The variant is called as such because it contains two famous mutations the L452R and E484Q that could help the virus evade an immune response.