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(The Manila Times) GENEVA: The UN warned Thursday that a “perfect storm” was brewing, with a raging pandemic disrupting access to routine vaccinations, leaving millions of children at risk from measles and other deadly diseases.

A full 23 million children missed out on basic childhood vaccines last year, as routine health services were hit worldwide by restrictions aimed at controlling Covid-19 and many parents shunned the clinics that were open for fear of exposure to the virus.

It marks the highest number in over a decade and 3.7 million more than in 2019, according to data published Thursday by the World Health Organization and the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF.

And the sharp decline in routine vaccinations comes as many countries have begun loosening restrictions even as the pandemic is far from over.

This has the potential of not only driving up Covid transmission, but also of allowing otherwise vaccine-preventable diseases to begin spreading.

That is because the restrictions in many countries have until now also provided a buffer protecting unvaccinated children against exposure to childhood diseases.

“In 2021, we have potentially a perfect storm about to happen,” Kate O’Brien, head of the WHO’s vaccines and immunization department, told reporters… Read More

(SunStar) (UPDATED) Malacañang has confirmed that travelers from Indonesia will be included in the ban until July 31, 2021.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the restrictions will begin at 12:01 a.m. of July 16 and end at 11:59 p.m. of July 31, 2021.

All travelers coming from Indonesia or those with travel history to Indonesia within the last 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines will be covered by the ban.

Passengers already in transit from Indonesia and those with travel history to Indonesia, who arrive before 12:01 a.m. of July 16 may still be allowed entry in the Philippines but will be required to undergo a full 14-day facility quarantine despite a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result.

“This action is undertaken to prevent the further spread and community transmission of Covid-19 variants in the Philippines,” Roque said.

Indonesia’s epidemic curve is nearly vertical, with cases rising to record highs daily due to the Delta variant.

Based on the Johns Hopkins University tracker, Indonesia reported 47,899 new cases on July 13, bringing its seven-day average to 38,644.

It was the second time that daily cases surpassed 40,000 in Indonesia. A day earlier, on July 12, daily cases reached 40,427.

The Our World in Data tracker showed that 459,064 cases were recorded only in the last 14 days from June 30 to July 13… Read More

(BusinessWorld) THE FIRST 18-kilometer section of the 30-kilometer Central Luzon Link Expressway project will be opened to motorists Thursday, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.

“Bukas na ang opening kaya nagpa-final inspection na ako dito. Ang bubuksan bukas ay 18 kilometers (The opening will be tomorrow, so I am conducting a final inspection. The 18-kilometer section will be opened),” Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar said in an announcement via social media Wednesday.

The section runs from the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx)/Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) connection in Tarlac City to the intersection of Aliaga-Guimba Road in Aliaga, Nueva Ecija, Mr. Villar said.

The expressway will be “toll-free,” he said.

“DPWH is committed to complete the entire 30-kilometer expressway project within the term of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, with the 10.3-kilometer Cabanatuan Section under Contract Package 4 already at 88.7% while the Zaragoza Interchange Section under Contract Package 5 is at 26.9% and expected to make significant progress as site possessions are secured for the project’s right-of-way requirements,” the department said in a statement.

“Once fully operational, the P11.811-billion expressway is expected to shorten the usual travel time of 70 minutes between Tarlac City and Cabanatuan City to just 20 minutes,” it added.

The project is expected to become an east-west link for the expressway network of Central Luzon “to ensure continuous seamless traffic flow” from Metro Manila and vice versa passing through North Luzon Expressway, SCTEx, and TPLEx… Read More

(GMA News) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has recently closed down 355 illegal dumpsites in the country, its spokesperson Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said on Wednesday.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, Antiporda said these were open dumpsites, which the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 had ordered to be closed.

“Three hundred thirty-five po ang huling napasara. Twenty years na po ang batas na [Republic Act] 9003, pero ngayon lang po natupad ang ipinag-uutos ng batas na ipasara ang open dumpsites,” he said.

(Three hundred thirty-five were recently closed. It’s been 20 years since RA 9003 was enacted, but its order to close open dumpsites is just being enforced now)

Antiporda said that the DENR is now focusing on the safe closure and rehabilitation of the dumpsites.

He also advised local governments units (LGUs) affected by the closure of the dumpsites to establish a residual containment area for their garbage while they develop a sanitary landfill.

Antiporda also warned LGU against burying their garbage in these areas as this is still considered as an open dumpsite and dangerous.

“Better shape up bago tayo abutan ng batas (before the long arm of the law reaches you),” he added… Read More

(BusinessWorld) METRO Manila and nearby provinces should stay under a general lockdown until end-July, researchers from the country’s premier university said on Tuesday, as health authorities said coronavirus infections in eight metro cities increased in the past two weeks.

“The cases in the National Capital Region are hardly decreasing, OCTA Research Group fellow Fredegusto Guido P. David said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “We think we can retain the general community quarantine but expand business capacities.”

The government also should stay on top of its vaccination rollout, he said.

Coronavirus infections in Manila, Makati, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong, Malabon, Navotas and San Juan rose in the past two weeks, said Alethea de Guzman, a bureau director at the Department of Health (DoH).

“People who get sick have exceeded the daily moving average,” she told a televised news briefing in Filipino. The intensive care unit (ICU) and health care use rates in these cities remained high, Ms. de Guzman said.

Makati and San Juan were high-risk areas, with hospital beds and intensive care units for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients nearly full, she said.

Makati City had a virus reproduction rate of 22%, while 69% of its ICUs were occupied. Its healthcare use rate was 70%.

DoH data showed 126,000 residents of San Juan have had their first vaccine dose, but the virus reproduction rate there was at 10% in the past two weeks.

The average daily attack rate in Makati and San Juan stood at 9.76 and 8.95 for 100,000 people, respectively, Ms. de Guzman said.

She added that one vaccine dose was not enough, adding that even fully vaccinated people should follow minimum health standards.

Vaccinated people should continue to wear face masks and shields, observe physical distancing and avoid large crowds, she added… Read More

(GMA News) A Chinese businessman was declared dead on arrival after a still unidentified assailant shot him inside the elevator of the Sunjoy Tower in Binondo, Manila Tuesday afternoon.

According to Sam Nielsen’s Super Radyo dzBB report, the shooting victim was still unidentified.

Manila Police District Station 11 said the businessman and the suspect were inside the elevator when the gunman shot him in the stomach and chest. The suspect also stole P2 million cash from the victim, who was supposed to deposit money at a bank.

The suspect, who was about 5″6 and wearing a black mask, fled the scene.

Earlier, members of the Manila Police District’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team cordoned off the crime scene, then entered the building to investigate the shooting.

The MPD said that aside from robbery, revenge could also be one of the motives in the killing. Police said the businessman previously laid off some of his workers.

Police also clarified that no hostage-taking took place… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 13)— The government will look into a report allegedly showing the dumping of human waste by Chinese ships in the Spratly Islands, the Department of Defense said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he has directed authorities to “verify and investigate” the report of US-based geospatial imagery firm Simularity, which supposedly revealed that Beijing’s vessels have been causing long-term marine life damage by dumping waste and sewage in the reefs.

“While we are confirming and verifying these wastes being dumped in the WPS, we consider such irresponsible acts, if true, to be gravely detrimental to the marine ecology in the area,” Lorenzana said, adding that all nations staking their claims on the South China Sea “must be responsible stewards of our natural resources and environment.”

A number of lawmakers, including Senators Ralph Recto, Risa Hontiveros, and Francis Tolentino, earlier urged the Duterte administration to take a more proactive role following the circulation of the Simularity report, which purportedly showed that the sewage discharge has led to an increase in chlorophyll A pigment.

Simularity said chlorophyll A concentration leads to excess phytoplankton which cannot be consumed by the reef inhabitants, which die and sink to the sea floor to be consumed by bacteria.

It also warned that damage to the reefs directly affects the fish stocks of the entire South China Sea, where the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam have claims, but is mostly contested by China. The reported added the ceaseless dumping of raw sewage may lead to a hunger crisis and a collapse of commercial fishing as the size of fish stock in the disputed waters is directly linked to the health of its reefs.

Lorenzana, however, still raised questions over the report.

“The photo of a ship seen dumping waste accompanying the report was found to have been taken in the Australian Great Barrier Reef in 2014,” Lorenzana said. “Therefore this intent to mislead has cast great doubt on the accurateness of the Simularity Report.”

The Environment Department earlier said it will coordinate with the DND and Coast Guard to authenticate the report and verify if Chinese vessels were involved in the incidents. If proven, it said it will “seek the attention” of the Chinese government through the Department of Foreign Affairs… Read More

(SunStar) THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, July 12, 2021, reported 100 additional mortalities from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), pushing the country’s death toll past 26,000.

In its case bulletin Monday, the DOH also reported over 5,000 new infections for five consecutive days.

As of July 12, the Covid-19 case count in the country has reached 1,478,061, including the 5,204 new infections and less the 12 duplicates that were removed as well as 156 cases that were deactivated after they were tagged by the local epidemiology and surveillance units as duplicates.

Of these 168 duplicates, 159 were previously tagged as recoveries and six were initially reported as deaths.

The new mortalities, which included 62 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries, raised the death toll to 26,015, which constitute 1.76 percent of the total case count… Read More