News which the Main Stream Media (MSM) don’t want to share to you, the Philippines under the Duterte Administration is now only 4th overall in terms of the Total Number of Active Cases of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the entire South East Asia (SEA).
If the situation was reversed, like the Philippines rising to Number One in Covid-19 Active Cases, not only would the Philippine MSM have reported it immediately, they would’ve posted it several times, with several Articles about over a period of several Days or Weeks.
A Screenshot of Bloomberg's Bullshi* "Resilience Ranking" Article
The American News Publication Blooomberg released a bullshi* Report on the “Best” and “Worst” Places to have Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), and out of the 53 Countries it ranked, it put the Philippines as “Worst”.
To me this is just the usual American Propaganda targeting Rodrigo Duterte’s Administration because they don’t like him as he is not “Politically Correct”, and has friendly ties with China.
The Covid-19 Virus by Tmaximumge from the PXHere Website
This Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic has proven to be much harder to beat than I thought. I initially believed that once the Vaccines for Covid-19 starts arriving in bulk, then we will have less infections and thus would be able to start opening up our economy again.
But that has not happened, despite having vaccinated already 35 million of our 108 million population, the Covid-19 infections are still rising, partly because of the fact that the Virus has mutated into a more infectious strain.
As per the Philippines’ Ambassador to RussiaCarlos Sorreta, Russia could start supplying its Vaccines for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) as early as January 2021 if the Philippine Government Health Agencies completes its evaluations of them on time.
The Vaccines won’t require extremely cold Temperatures to store, but could be a little bit more expensive. Russia has currently approved at least two Covid-19 Vaccines, the Sputnik V and the EpiVakKorona.
Other important Facts about the Sputnik V Vaccine:
Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said that his Country is willing to have their Sputnik V Vaccine for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) produced in the Philippines.
The Sputnik V has been found to be safe and effective in ongoing Trials by the prestigious Medical Journal, “The Lancet”. Also as far as I know, this is the only offer of Philippine production of any Covid-19 Vaccine that are out there so far .
I think this offer is very generous, we should accept it if the final result show that it is really safe and effective, and that the Government should move quickly on this one
Very good news, it seems that Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) was found to be effective as per the “The Lancet” Medical Journal with only mild Side Effects such as Mild Fever and Pain at the Injection Site.
"The Lancet” is one of the leading Peer-reviewed Medical Journals in the World and was first published in 1823.
Russia intends to do mass vaccinations of its Citizens starting the end of this Year (2020), and the whole vaccination process for most of the Russian population will take one Year.
In another piece of News which the Philippine Press wants to forget as soon as possible and hope Filipinos won’t notice it, Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank by 17.5% in the Second Quarter of 2020 (April to June 2020) as a result of the restricted Economic Activity brought about by the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic.
So far this is the worst contraction in South East Asia (SEA). Singapore’s GDP also shrank by 13.2%, the worst since 2009. The Philippines’ GDP shrank by 16.5% in the same period, the worst since 1981.
Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank by 27.8% in the Second Quarter of 2020 (April to June 2020) compared to the First Quarter of 2020 (January to March 2020) due to the restricted Economic Activity caused by the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic.
This is another piece of News which seems that the Philippine Press is reluctant to report, but when the News of the Q2 2020 GDP of the Philippines contracting by 16.5% came out, they were quick and eager to report it.
They don’t want to report News like this because the Narrative or Story they are cultivating is that the Duterte Administration is incompetent and bungling everything as much as possible, and News like this goes against that Narrative since it shows how other Countries are worse off.
It turns out that the Philippines has not only surpassed Singapore or any of the other South East Asian (SEA) Countries in terms of Tests for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), but also Japan. And we have also now matched the tests of South Korea.
Data from the Our World in Data Website shows that the Philippines has already made 1.59 million Covid-19 Tests while Japan only made 1.21 million Tests.
As per data from the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), the Philippines is set to overtake Indonesia as the Country with the most number of People infected with the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19).
However, this is likely because it also has the highest number of Tests for Covid-19 in the entire South East Asian (SEA) Region. The data shows that the Philippines has already conducted 1.6 million Tests for Covid-19 with over 115,000 infected but with only over 2,000 Deaths.
The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Crisis in the United States (US) is deepening with over 60,000 Infections and 1,000 Deaths recorded recently in just one Day.
As of this writing, the Total Number of Covid-19 Infections in the US is already more than 4.5 million of which over 152,000 have already died.
This puts Donald Trump’s re-election Prospects at the end of this year (2020) in danger, with Democrat Nominee Joe Biden leading in the current Surveys.
I just find it a bit funny that the Department of Health (DOH) couldn’t even meet their own target of 10k Tests per day for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) in April 14, 2020 and then in April 30, 2020 as I posted before, and yet now they are targeting an even higher number of 30k Tests/Day by end of May 2020.
It is frustrating for all of us who are sacrificing a lot of convenience to make this Quarantine successful, but then seeing agencies like the DOH failing to meet the targets that they themselves set.
Whatever goal it is that they set out, these should not be a “Moving Targets” that they can easily just brush off and try again. If they set those out themselves, then they should think creatively and find all ways to ensure that they meet them, especially in this time of crisis.
Anyway I wish them luck, I hope they do meet this latest goal of theirs.
The Department of Health (DOH) really needs to step up because they actually missed the target that they themselves set of doing 8,000 to 10,000 Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) Tests per Day for the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) by April 14, 2020.
As of April 28, 2020, 14 days after the initial Apr. 14, 2020 deadline they set above, their testing capacity was at only 6,320 per Day.
They actually reset the date for meeting the 8-10k Tests per Day from April 14 to 30, 2020 or today, but it seems that they are going to miss that target also.
The use of Convalescent Plasma Therapy (CPT) for Patients Critically Ill of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Philippine Hospitals is showing some positive signs as 5 out of 12 or 42% were taken off Ventilator Support in Intensive Care Units (ICU) and moved to regular Hospital Beds.
CPT involves transfusing certain components of the blood from People who have recovered from Covid-19 into people who are still very sick with the Disease. The Government may want to mandate this into Law, requiring all qualified Covid-19 Recoverees to contribute Plasma at regular intervals.
There naturally has been a lot of talk and articles recently in our local Press about the best way to beat the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak, and much if not all of them have focused mostly on things like Mass Testing, Contact Tracing, etc.
However, when asked how his Country was able to beat the Covid-19 outbreak, Germany’s Health Minister attributed it to, first and foremost, having a good Healthcare system. They have enough Hospital Beds and Medical Practitioners to treat those who were infected.
Coronavirus: Why Germany has been so successful in dealing with COVID-19 by CNBC Television
The thing is that if you cross check what he said with experience of other Countries, it seems to check out very well. When you look at the “Number of Hospital Beds per 1,000 (NHB/1k) People” of each Country from the databank of “The World Bank (TWB)”, you will find that Germany has one of the highest in the world with 8.
Two other Countries credited with beating the Covid-19 outbreak are Japan and South Korea, and both have some of the highest NHB/1k people at 13.4 and 11.5, respectively.
On the other hand, if you look at the Countries that are struggling with the Covid-19 outbreak, these are the Countries with low NHB per 1k people. The United States (US) for example, currently the Country with the highest number of Infections and Deaths due to Covid-19, only has an NHB/1k people of 2.9.
Two other Countries hit hard with the Covid-19 outbreak, Spain and Italy only has an NHB/1k people of 3 and 3.4, respectively.
Below are the Countries with their number of Infections / Deaths due to Covid-19 as of April 21, 2020 – 1916H taken from the “WorldOMeter” website:
* United States – 792,938 / 42,518
* Spain – 204,178 / 21,282
* Italy – 181,228 / 24,114
* Germany – 147,065 / 4,862
* Japan – 11,135 / 263
* South Korea – 10,683 / 237
If this is the case, then the Philippines could be in trouble if the Community Quarantine is relaxed since our NHB/1k people is only at 1. Note that the TWB is a bit outdated, their available data is still from a couple of years ago. But I feel that they still have the most accurate data I could find, and I don’t think the NHB/1k would’ve changed dramatically too much anyway for most Countries.
The good news though is that the Government is moving in the right direction by putting up many Healthcare Facilities to augment the number of Hospital Beds in the Country. The idea is to have these additional facilities handle the less serious Cases while the most serious Cases are handled by the Hospitals themselves.
But the big question here is whether the number of Hospital Beds being put up is enough to cover the expected number of cases if the Quarantine will be relaxed.
It is also a good idea that we try to keep our Healthcare Professionals also since the Healthcare Facilities won’t be of much use if they don’t have them.
The University of the Philippines (UP) has just released their latest analysis and recommendations on the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak in the Philippines. To summarize the major points:
* The Time for the Number of Confirmed Covid-19 Infections to double in number has been extended from the previous 3 days to now only every 6 days. This means that the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) has been effective in preventing the spread of the virus.
* They now project that the Number of Confirmed Covid-19 Infections to be at least 9,000 cases by the end of the month (April 30, 2020).
* They are recommending the grouping of the Provinces in the Philippines into 4 types depending on the Probability of a Covid-19 outbreak, and what Quarantine Type to be implemented for each group:
+ Less than 80% - No Quarantine needed but Standard Precautions in place
+ More than 80% but less than 90% - General Community Quarantine (GCQ, probably a relaxed version of the Enhanced Community Quarantine we have now)
+ More than 90% but less than 99% - Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ, like what is in place all over the Country now)
+ More than 99% to 100% - Extreme Enhanced Community Quarantine (EECQ, probably as stricter version of the ECQ we have now)
* Of the 81 Provinces in the Philippines, 16 are recommended for at least an ECQ, and these are Aklan, Bataan, Batangas, Benguet, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, Davao del Sur, Laguna, Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Rizal and Tarlac.
I think these recommendations are good and will help ease the negative effects of the Quarantine on the Economy of the Philippines.
UP though did not show their projections on the number of Infections/Deaths due to Covid-19 if their recommendation is implemented, but I think it is inevitable, I expect a rise in such when this is adopted. Hopefully the rise won’t be much, but aside from the Infections/Deaths, we need to consider also the Economy.
It is ironic that in terms of the Statistics for Infections and Deaths due to the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Countries in South East Asia (SEA) that has a highest numbers are also the ones with the Freest Press.
A “Free Press” is supposed to be an indication of Transparency since there will supposedly be “Checks and Balances” against whatever Report or Data the Government is giving out, hence the freer the Press, the more transparent the Government is and vice versa, the less free the Press, the less transparent it is.
The scenarios above based on Computer Simulation of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak in the Philippines was published by the University of the Philippines (UP) earlier this month (April 2020), and it is a bit dated since it assumed that the Quarantine would be lifted by April 14, 2020.
However, I think the data would still be valid up to now, we just need to move the post Quarantine date from April 14, 2020 to May 1, 2020. Now from the Graphs we can see that:
The University of the Philippines (UP) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has developed the RxBox Biomedical Device which is Proudly Philippine made by company Ionics EMS Inc. in Laguna.
These RxBoxes can measure a Patient’s Temperature, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Oxygen Saturation, Uterine Contractions (if applicable), and Electrocardiogram Readings. These were originally intended to be used in far flung areas of the Country, but has instead been diverted to fight the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.
106 units were recently delivered to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and another 894 units are for distribution to other Healthcare Facilities. I hope more will be produced and the far flung areas of the Country will also be eventually be provided also. Proudly Philippine made!!!
The first 15,000 of 1 million Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) purchased by the Department of Health (DOH) has arrived from China. The set costs Php 1,800 and includes 8 types of PPEs - An N95 Mask, Goggles, Coveralls, Head Cover, Shoe Cover, Surgical Mask, Gloves, and Surgical Gown.
The remaining 985,000 are scheduled for delivery within this month (April 2020)
