COVID19 Important Notes

A. MENTAL HEALTH

(Updated) DOH confirms 75 covid positive cases at the National Center for Mental Health (62 employees, 13 psych patients) as of April 19. 5 of them have already recovered. Based on NCMH data meanwhile, there have been at least 8 deaths so far, all psych patients. Of this number, 62 are healthcare workers while 13 are psychiatric patients. Five of the confirmed cases have already recovered, four of whom are staff members while one is a patient.

Last week, the department reported that 22 healthcare workers had succumbed to COVID-19 while 339 doctors and 242 nurses tested positive. (Julia Marie Ornedo, DOH confirms 75 COVID-19 infections at NCMH,GMANews.com, https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/734970/doh-confirms-75-covid-19-infections-at-ncmh/story/ GMAnews.com, 21 April 2020).

There is also a total of 24 suspected cases (22 staff, 2 psych patients) and a substantial 370 probable cases (323 staff, 47 psych patients). The DOH defines probable cases as “a suspect case who has been tested for covid-19 but the results are inconclusive” (Atom Aruallo, Twitter, 22 April 2020)

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The staff of the National Center for Mental Health has suffered a huge blow after 28 of them contracted the COVID-19 virus.
According to a Stand for Truth report, six elderly patients being treated for mental illness also tested positive for the disease. Three of them already died.

The NCMH also has 297 persons under investigation and 181 persons under monitoring as of April 5.
Avila said 50 psychiatrists out of 83 were already undergoing self-quarantine.

She added 30 percent of their nursing staff were no longer reporting for work because they were either PUIs or PUMs.

[https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/733101/50-of-83-psychiatrists-at-nat-l-center-for-mental-health-under-quarantine/story/?fbclid=IwAR3fKKmuCYTKr2zDy91JVJd1PRMOPugvzJE9K1jR2JXaVGY63uvc7OPDMJs
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/balitambayan/balita/733221/higit-50-ng-83-psychiatrists-ng-nat-l-center-for-mental-health-naka-quarantine-dahil-sa-covid-19/story/


B. MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS

(Updated) The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) has confirmed that 43 of its staff have tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), majority of whom are currently asymptomatic.Dr. Celia Carlos has disclosed that there are 5,000 pending specimens due to the lack of manpower. (Mark Fetalco, 43 RITM staff test positive for COVID-19, PtVnews.com, https://ptvnews.ph/43-ritm-staff-test-positive-for-covid-19/ 21 April 2020).

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Over 200 doctors and nurses in the country have contracted the coronavirus disease, the Department of Health confirmed on Wednesday.

The agency said 252 health workers have tested positive for the deadly disease as shown in its latest data. Of this number, 152 or 65 percent are doctors, while 63 or 25 percent are nurses.

Twelve healthcare workers also succumbed to COVID-19, DOH said.
Earlier, the Philippine Medical Association gave a different number, saying 17 doctors died from COVID-19. The group said these deaths could have been prevented had there been enough protective gear.

Health officials have since procured one million sets of personal protective equipment to be distributed to different hospitals. These sets, containing N95 masks, surgical gowns, gloves, head cover and foot covers, will come in batches until April 24.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/8/doctors-nurses-with-coronavirus.html?fbclid=IwAR0VTWMWaYTU7i3eJOz8ADeY8HDo4q04H9kg6AJbI5WYvjv5-3_vE_b4DKQ


C. SECURITY FORCES

The Philippine National Police confirmed on Thursday that the number of their COVID-19 infected personnel climbed to 78.

Apart from the confirmed cases, PNP also recorded 580 suspected and 96 probable cases among their personnel. A total of 12 policemen have already recovered, while three have succumbed to the disease. (CNN Philippines Staff, COVID-19 cases within police ranks rise to 78, CNN Philippines, https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/4/23/PNP-coronavirus-cases.html 23 april 2020)


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The Philippine National Police (PNP) has announced that over 700 police officers are under observation for possible coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection.

According to PNP Chief PGen. Archie Gamboa, 709 policemen are considered as persons under investigation (PUIs) while a police colonel and a patrolman already tested positive for COVID-19.
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/pnp-over-700-police-under-093045821.html?fbclid=IwAR3O8Z520zKbQSTw2hAbDlR9EdKZcVOQXjvUIMi0w7xF9xtfuT1h5UMH0FQ

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232 cadets, 11 personnel of PNPA test positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 232 cadets and 11 personnel of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) have contracted the coronavirus disease 2019.

PNPA director Maj. Gen. Gilberto Cruz said Monday that health frontliners are strictly monitoring the health status of the cadets and personnel infected with coronavirus in areas where they are undergoing quarantine.

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1335032/232-cadets-11-personnel-of-pnpa-test-positive-for-covid-19#ixzz6XzGjNT00


D. NAP UPDATES


Galvez shares PRC state-of-the-art molecular testing lab has opened in Mandaluyong which could test more or less 10,000 to 12,000 tests a day for PUIs and PUMs.

Sec Galvez says 52, 837 individuals have been tested and is expected to increase as more laboratories will be rotated nationwide. He adds 900,000 PCR test kits and 2 million rapid test kits soon to arrive in the next few days; 3,052 quarantine facilities have been established nationwide.

Galvez says all air, sea, land transportation assets by armed forces, together with DOTr assets, have been deployed to ensure medical support reaches all areas in the country; PAF adds C130 flights to strengthen capacity in transporting PPEs.

Galvez expresses gratitude to international communities who have extended help to the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic as DFA recorded 44 international assistance donations.

Galvez says DTI supports local production of 10,000 PPEs (Ptvnews.com, Summary of NAP Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. day-end presser on gov’t latest COVID-19 measures, https://ptvnews.ph/summary-of-nap-chief-implementer-secretary-carlito-galvez-jr-day-end-presser-on-govt-latest-covid-19-measures/ 21 April 2020)


The country will be able to test 6,000 to 12, 000 samples per day within this week through the newly inaugurated facility. The said facilities are equipped with new medical machines from China used for COVID-19 testing such as RNA extraction machines and PCR machines. Gordon said in Twitter that more samples of the new medical equipment will be brought to the country through a chartered flight from China. IATF Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles earlier said the step of the PRC for the mass testing is a game-changer for the Philippines and may affect the IATF’s recommendation and President Duterte’s decision on the community quarantine. – Louisa Erispe, COVID-19 mass testing to be conducted in Mega Manila, https://ptvnews.ph/covid-19-mass-testing-to-be-conducted-in-mega-manila/ 21 April 2020)


E. COVID AND ECONOMY

1. In this study, seven socio-economic indicators were associated with Covid-2019 cases across 17 regions in the Philippines. Utilizing a retrospective study utilizing readily accessible public data in the analysis. Socio-economic indicators used were poverty incidence, magnitude of poor families, substinence incidence, and magnitude of substinence poor population. In addition, the income, expenditure, and savings recorded per Philippine region were taken for the analysis. A single Philippine region was the sampling unit; hence, a total of 17 regions were assessed. Covid-2019 cases as of April 7, 2020 were considered for the analysis. Descriptive statistics, Kendall rank correlation, and stepwise regression were used to determine if the seven socio-economic indicators were associated with Covid-2019 cases.

Researchers found that substinence incidence and income were retained for the regression model, which explained 87.2 percent of the variance in the Covid-2019 cases (R2 = .872). The results indicated that for every 1,000 PhP increase in income, there was a decrease of 3.99 Covid-2019 cases in each Philippine region. Meanwhile, for every 1.0 percent increase in substinence incidence, there was an increase of 3.34 Covid-2019 cases in each Philippine region.

High income and low substinence incidence are associated with significant reductions in Covid-2019 cases across the 17 regions of the Philippines. This provides additional knowledge to policy makers and health officials in formulating targeted strategies to regions that could potentially record high number of Covid-2019 cases in the future. Early identification of these high-risk regions would warrant prompt preventive measures. Given the seasonal and recurring nature of Covid-2019 with respect to previous outbreaks, it is essential for the Philippine government to formulate directed policies and innovate programs that would decrease substinence and increase income. Concerted multi-region efforts should be made to prepare for possible infection outbreaks in the future. Additional studies could be explored in the future to capture significant changes in the socio-economic indicators.

(Alipio, Mark, Do socio-economic indicators associate with COVID-2019 cases? Findings from a Philippine study, Davao Doctors College, University of Southeastern Philippines, Philippines, 9 April 2020, https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/99583/1/MPRA_paper_99583.pdf)

2. The new coronavirus and the resultant area quarantines and lockdowns are already as globally dispersed as the overseas Filipino population. Countries are now rolling out economic stimulus packages for citizens and critical economic sectors. Foreign workers like Filipinos will be affected by these economic disruptions. Add the prevailing drop of global oil prices and the looming global recession to these ongoing woes facing countries and the Philippine economy’s reliance on remittances.

COVID impacts may have two short-term trends that will affect Filipino overseas work and dollar remittances. One, cash remittances will visibly decline from US$30 billion in 2019 to about US$ 24-to-27 billion this year (that being the steepest year-on-year decline of remittances in Philippine migration history). And two, about 300,000 to 400,000 overseas Filipino workers will be affected by lay-offs and salary cuts worldwide. The Philippines is the world's most organized migration bureaucracy among migrant-origin countries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic may well be the most challenging crisis facing the responsive migration management system of the Philippines. The delay in cash remittances
include those from seafarers, also feeling the brunt of how the pandemic had grounded global
shipping. (Filipinos provide the world’s largest number of merchant marine fleet.

In the current scenario, all of the oil producers in the Middle East are at risk with falling oil prices. Note that nearly half of our OFWs are based there [refer to Table 1 (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2019)]. If the trend of falling prices continue, the Middle East might be forced to stop oil production and possibly lay off many workers including Filipinos. This will compound the world’s economic woes given the pandemic.
This double-barreled economic impact will lead to a base-to-worst case scenario of about 13-to 20 percent of all OFWs being affected. This will result to the following:
a) Cash remittances can potentially decline from US$ 30 billion in 2019 to US$ 24 billion (base case) to US$27 billion (worst case). That is roughly 10-to-20% or US$3 to US$6 billion less, year on year). This is assuming that significant parts of the global economy
continue to be in some sort of a lockdown; and

b) About 300,00 to 400,000 OFWs will be affected by lay-offs and pay cuts, not to mention that some of them may need to be repatriated.
The last time cash remittances fell year-on-year was in 1999: overseas Filipinos sent some US$ 6.021 billion, or some US$ 1.315 billion less (18.2%) than in 1998 (total: US$ 7.367 billion) —at the height of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The top six countries are even major destinations of temporary migrant workers and are the major oil producers (the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy), as well as major destinations of permanent residents and emigrants (Italy as well, Germany and New Zealand).

Philippine diplomatic posts may have to anticipate and monitor expected job displacements affecting Filipinos in their countries of jurisdiction. If Filipino ambassadors, consuls general and labor attaches will be allowed, they can negotiate with ministries of labor some possible steps. Embassies and consulates must promptly and quickly inform the Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Foreign Affairs (DFA) if host countries will be giving employment assistance packages, unemployment insurance and/or benefits, and portable social security benefits to overseas Filipinos who are both temporary migrant workers and permanent residents.

Government may also consider recommended "repatriation and reintegration of displaced overseas workers" with support from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) , PhilHealth for health packages, and other benefits which may be enshrined in Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act (now Republic Act 11299, signed 17 April 2019).

(Alvin P. Ang and Jeremaiah M. Opiniano, "Possible Economic Impacts of Falling Oil Prices, the Pandemic and the Looming Global Recession onto Overseas Filipinos and their Remittances," Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, Working Paper Series 202005, Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University. http://ateneo.edu/sites/default/files/downloadable-files/ADMU-WP-2020-05_0.pdf 2020)


c. Traditionally, public-private partnerships have been established to create new drugs or improve access to drugs where prices are high
because of intellectual property rights. Their was an instance when a vaccine discovery for malaria was coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global health organization PATH, with substantial funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Technology was transferred from the United States and the Netherlands to the Serum Institute of India, which agreed to manufacture the vaccine at the low target price of 50 cents per dose. Similar initiatives or advance market commitments, i.e. promises to purchase at a pre-announced price, could help remedy market and policy failures in the market for tests.
First, while the recent pandemic has generated a burst of spontaneous innovation in tests, additional incentives may be needed to encourage innovation in tests tailored for developing countries. Such innovations could include a simpler PCR assay that relies less on complementary human and laboratory capacity. Second, while tests remain scarce, developing countries may find it difficult to outbid richer countries in the market for tests. Third,some test-producing countries have imposed export restrictions that could deprive developing countries of access to medical supplies, including tests (Mattoo and Ruta, 2020).
The international community could also catalyze collaboration to expand the supply of these tests as well as complementary products
and skills. The priority would be to encourage the production of the simplest versions of the PCR assay and antibody tests which meet
sensitivity and specificity standards, and to make them available to developing countries. In parallel, an effort could be made to procure
in bulk the necessary PCR machines and personal protective equipment for the staff handling specimen collection, and enhance the capacity to process them, as well as to organize the testing in representative samples of the population. Private companies could be directly contracted to expand production of test kits and equipment to fulfill the needs of developing countries. Medical colleges across the world could be contracted to provide intensive courses in testing for health personnel and other suitably qualified people—including those who cannot pursue their regular professions in current circumstances.
We recognize that tests are not a silver bullet and must be implemented as part of a battery of public health interventions. Tests
require a strengthening of the capacity to use them and compete for resources with the capacity to treat the victims of the disease. But if
it is feasible to build the necessary capacity, then tests can help at relatively low cost to reduce the number of victims, not just of the
disease but also of the economic immiseration associated with other stringent suppression strategies.

(Source: De Walque,Damien B. C. M. & Friedman,Jed & Gatti,Roberta V. & Mattoo,Aaditya, 2020. "How Two Tests Can Help Contain COVID-19 and Revive the Economy," Research and Policy Briefs 147504, The World Bank.)

F. COVID & PUBLIC GOVERNANCE

89 barangay chairpersons suspended over SAP anomalies

A TOTAL of 89 barangay chairpersons nationwide were placed under preventive suspension for six months over their alleged involvement in anomalies in the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP) cash subsidy.

In an order dated September 2, 2020, the Office of the Ombudsman said “the evidence on record show that the guilt of these punong barangays is strong and the charges against them involve serious dishonesty, grave misconduct, abuse of authority and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service which may warrant removal from the service.” The Ombudsman said the continued stay of the charged punong barangays in their respective offices may prejudice the cases filed against them.

He said the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has filed criminal charges against 447 individuals including 211 elected local and barangay officials, 104 appointed barangay officials and 132 civilian co-conspirators for violations of RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act), RA 11469 (Bayanihan Act I), and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct of Government Officials and Employees), among others, again in relation to the implementation of the SAP.

Under the program, 18 million poor families nationwide received P5,000 to P8,000 cash subsidy from the government during the implementation of stringent quarantine measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año directed the respective municipal/city mayors of these barangay chairpersons to immediately implement the Ombudsman’s order while the DILG regional and field officers were directed to ensure the orderly implementation of the mass suspension.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1870052?fbclid=IwAR1HVZ6wAuLACHQ47WYpwQot5Xgsq-cGBD5UYxctpYM-gAn7ycDbDW-pzqg