General Info

[Sammon]

Does anyone have the latest information regarding entry into the Philippines?

I'm fully jabbed from the UK.

Most of the tourist oriented countries are looking at USA and European countries about relaxing their own Covid rules and restrictions. USA is allowing foreigners starting November with negative test for only vaccinated travelers. Thailand is also opening with restrictions for the moment. Philippines is looking at how other countries do before they open up. I am guessing pre testing before entry will be here for foreseeable future. Quarantine will go away for vaccinated people.

Problem is if anyone tests positive. All rules state that it will be compulsory quarantine for 14 days or at least till one tests negative couple of times. This has happened to many people who went on vacation only to be confined at one's own expense. At the moment it is hard to plan anything.

I am looking for the days where fully vaccinated requirements should only be the benchmark for travel and no testing.

[Fun Times69]

Does anyone have the latest information regarding entry into the Philippines?

I'm fully jabbed from the UK.

[Soapy Smith]

I'd love to hear from some of our intrepid members currently in the Philippines: what is the state of vaccine resistance among Filipinos, and what seem to be their arguments?

[Soapy Smith]

Enjoyed the last one, PBS / 1000 cuts. However, it doesn't discount the lying nature of pinoys (it might show the exceptions to the rule). Good work SS, food for thought.

Filipinos do lie. It's a cultural thing. My point was simply that ISG reports rarely find anything positive to say about the Philippines, aside from ready access to cheap sex. Maria Ressa is a bright spot; I know there are others but reports of this sort are seen as tangential to ISG. The PBS film actually emphasized the fabricated social media memes--lies, essentially. I'm glad we don't have to put up with any of that in the states.

[Bushes]

IMHO, the little video is much easier and understand and effortlessly crosses language and cultural barriers.

Covid is harder to understand. Especially the significance of gain of function research / proposals.

Many Covid cases and not diagnosed. Even in the beginning and even now. Many of the children and vaccinated do not show symptoms. There are some estimates of 16 times actual Covid cases versus reported cases.

The vaccine is not stopping the Covid spread but is slowing down death and hospitalizations. Pretty soon, things will be back to normal as restrictions are lowered and Covid is allowed to spread. The unvaccinated will be in deep shxt soon. Australia, US, New Zealand, UK, Singapore, Bali, Thailand and many other countries and going away from zero Covid strategy and opening up.

Hahaha that's great.

Memory challenged is a big problem. For the non Covid variety, this might help remind people of what comes from these beautiful islands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WNMSo-sfAk

[Mr Enternational]

And, just in from the CDC. Title of the article: Rates of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Vaccination Status.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...vaccine-status

See pic, the graphic says it all. Unvaccinated persons in August were 6 times more likely to get infected than fully vaccinated persons. And 11 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated.

Good thing that nasty August is gone. Now we must be in the clear like the other months when things were pretty much even! Very interesting results posted by a BM in another thread about research that was sponsored by Pfizer.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...183-8/fulltext

[WestCoast1]

And, just in from the CDC. Title of the article: Rates of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Vaccination Status.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra...vaccine-status

See pic, the graphic says it all. Unvaccinated persons in August were 6 times more likely to get infected than fully vaccinated persons. And 11 times more likely to die than fully vaccinated.

[WestCoast1]

Based on plummeting covid case rates in Metro Manila, Bureau of Immigration chief Jaime Morente is optimistic that travel restrictions for inbound tourists will be lifted soon, but cautions that the decision is up to the Inter Agency Task Force, per Philippine Lifestyle News, October 11. Currently, there are no outbound restrictions for Filipinos however, only Filipinos, Balikbayans and foreigners with residency permits are permitted to enter.

Interesting. That looks like a copy / paste from a news article. Regarding the plummeting covid case (or death) rates in Metro Manila, does anyone have evidence of that?

Some evidence of the opposite. See attached pics, from: https://doh.gov.ph/2019-ncov/.

The graph is the death rate (rolling 7-day average) for the NCR since the pandemic start. Note from July 1 of this year to present, it appears to be an uptick-and-hold (not a plummeting decline).

Also of interest: https://doh.gov.ph/press-release/80%...CT-HUCs-IN-NCR.

Showing the majority of cases coming from only a handful of hotspots (from the pic, guessing Manila, QC, Caloocan, Pasig, and Valenzuela). Headline from the article:

80% OF NEW COVID-19 CASES COME FROM 11%-30% OF BARANGAYS IN NCR PLUS AND SELECT HUCs IN NCR

[WestCoast1]

From an October 7 article on new shipment of 5. 5 million doses of vaccines to Phils:

https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-deliver...e-philippines/

Manila, October 7, 2021 The United States, in partnership with the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, delivered an additional 5,575,050 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines as part of its worldwide effort to help end COVID-19.

The vaccines, delivered in five separate shipments to Manila, Cebu, and Davao between October 1 to 6, were part of the 500 million doses of Pfizer the United States is making available for distribution through COVAX, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

From another, today, 1. 8 million doses:

https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-provide...e-philippines/

Manila, October 13, 2021  The United States, in partnership with the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, delivered an additional 1,842,750 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the Philippines as part of its worldwide effort to help end COVID-19.   

The vaccines, delivered in two separate shipments to Manila on October 10 and 11, were part of the 500 million doses of Pfizer the United States is making available for distribution through COVAX, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. This follows last weeks delivery of 5.57 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to the Philippines.

[AggieDad1]

Nice.

OTOH, there is this article on UAL cutting flights out of SFO:

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...html?ana=yahoo

From the article:

United (NASDAQ: UAL) suspended SFO nonstops to Calgary, a Canadian energy and business center; Northwest Arkansas National Airport, popular with tech vendors and other suppliers to Walmart, based in nearby Bentonville; Toronto; St. Louis; and Oklahoma City. SNIP.

SFOs dominant carrier did not have an immediate comment on the suspension of nonstop flights involving Bay Area airports, but the airline industry has been moving rapidly to adjust service schedules as the Delta variant cooled demand for business travel and delayed return-to-office plans at many companies. SNIP.

But SFOs nonstop service to Shanghai, which had been Uniteds only nonstop service to China from San Francisco, has also been suspended through February. Bay Area residents traveling to Shanghai from SFO will have to travel through Seoul, South Korea, according to the Cranky Flyer travel blog.

United told investors last month that it sees dim prospects for recovery in travel to Asia. "We're not expecting our Asian capacity to get back to normal anytime soon," said Andrew Nocella, United's chief commercial officer.

Apparently Andrew is not reading this Board.

China is still not allowing entry to non-citizens unless you can get a "special visa" which are hard to come by, and the quarantine requirements for entry, even for returning citizens, is very strict. So not surprising that United is having troubles getting enough passengers to fill up an airplane.

The pilot shortage in the USA is very real and will only get worse if the US government insists on all pilots being vaccinated. Would not be surprised if most airlines start chopping their less profitable routes and just fly those that they have pilots and crew to handle.

I hear Southwest is offering free flights to passengers who know how to fly a 737.

[WestCoast1]

Based on plummeting covid case rates in Metro Manila, Bureau of Immigration chief Jaime Morente is optimistic that travel restrictions for inbound tourists will be lifted soon, but cautions that the decision is up to the Inter Agency Task Force, per Philippine Lifestyle News, October 11. Currently, there are no outbound restrictions for Filipinos however, only Filipinos, Balikbayans and foreigners with residency permits are permitted to enter. SNIP Can't wait.

Nice.

OTOH, there is this article on UAL cutting flights out of SFO:

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...html?ana=yahoo

From the article:

United (NASDAQ: UAL) suspended SFO nonstops to Calgary, a Canadian energy and business center; Northwest Arkansas National Airport, popular with tech vendors and other suppliers to Walmart, based in nearby Bentonville; Toronto; St. Louis; and Oklahoma City. SNIP.

SFOs dominant carrier did not have an immediate comment on the suspension of nonstop flights involving Bay Area airports, but the airline industry has been moving rapidly to adjust service schedules as the Delta variant cooled demand for business travel and delayed return-to-office plans at many companies. SNIP.

But SFOs nonstop service to Shanghai, which had been Uniteds only nonstop service to China from San Francisco, has also been suspended through February. Bay Area residents traveling to Shanghai from SFO will have to travel through Seoul, South Korea, according to the Cranky Flyer travel blog.

United told investors last month that it sees dim prospects for recovery in travel to Asia. "We're not expecting our Asian capacity to get back to normal anytime soon," said Andrew Nocella, United's chief commercial officer.

Apparently Andrew is not reading this Board.

[WestCoast1]

And speaking of vaccines. Its possible that there might be misinformation out there on social media.

[WestCoast1]

Covid comparison numbers for New Zealand. For the period of August during the Delta outbreak, of 1622 cases: 86% unvaccinated, 10% single dose, 4% double dosed (100% of total cases). Of those hospitalized: 91% unvaccinated, 7% single dose, 2% double dose (100% of hospitalizations).

[WestCoast1]

First person from the Philippines ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RArvuCLElaY

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/08/media...ntl/index.html

Here's an account put together by the Public Broadcasting Service in the states. Be advised it's about an hour and 40 minutes long, but it is sort of riveting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQpjfWV_p6E

Maybe this balances out some of the frequent accounts about Filipinas stealing, lying, and infecting mongers.

Enjoyed the last one, PBS / 1000 cuts. However, it doesn't discount the lying nature of pinoys (it might show the exceptions to the rule). Good work SS, food for thought.

[Dashing Don]

Based on plummeting covid case rates in Metro Manila, Bureau of Immigration chief Jaime Morente is optimistic that travel restrictions for inbound tourists will be lifted soon, but cautions that the decision is up to the Inter Agency Task Force, per Philippine Lifestyle News, October 11. Currently, there are no outbound restrictions for Filipinos however, only Filipinos, Balikbayans and foreigners with residency permits are permitted to enter.

International travel for the vaccinated is starting to return with almost daily reports of loosening of restrictions; Malaysia and Singapore being the latest to announce partial re openings.

Maybe soon the games will begin again with gusto as planeloads of merry foreigners descend on the fair shores of the motherland. The board abuzz with chatter about the latest conquest; punters earnestly seeking advise from fellow hobbyists on the moral fiber of this or that bar girl; and the inevitable storm in a teacup regarding the member who 'paid too much' and thus 'ruined it for the rest of us'.

Can't wait.