General Info

[WestCoast1]

Here is your answer below. The thing that puzzles me about the ISG timing is the time indicated in the tops left of the posting, like Westcoast's AC posting: "Today 01.03". My question: Is this UTC time?

Good graphic explanation. So Phils, at 12:30 pm, same time as UTC at 4:30 am, would be forward 8 hours. Those msgs that I receive from ISG (Notices) almost never come during that time. They appear at 10 am, 4 pm, 5:30 pm, 7 pm. Never near the Phils lunch hour. Mostly at times as described by Goferring: Anytime I try to post (or preview) a lengthy report.

I have always been puzzled by the date / time stamp on my posts. Those times don't seem to correlate to anything.

[KongKing]

OK. If its 5 am UTC, what time is it in Phils?

Here is your answer below. The thing that puzzles me about the ISG timing is the time indicated in the tops left of the posting, like Westcoast's AC posting: "Today 01.03". My question: Is this UTC time?

[Goferring]

OK. If its 5 am UTC, what time is it in Phils?

What ever time you are trying to log on. Most likely immediately after you have finished typing a long post or reply.

5 to 10 forum minutes can also be 30 to 60 US minutes.

Welcome came to web Hosting 😁.

[WestCoast1]

OK. If its 5 am UTC, what time is it in Phils?

[Beavis]

Curfew has been lifted in Angeles City also. It still remains at Midnight in Olongapo but people are moving around 24 hours a day. It only seems to assure businesses close by 12. As well BI has said it is ready to open the borders but have not given any timeframe of when that could happen. With the way things have gone since March of 2020 that could mean anytime between next week and the year 2525.

Speaking of Cebu. Seems things might be changing: Lifting of the face shield.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/rama-lifts...100000951.html

From the article:

CEBU City Acting Mayor Michael Rama will lift the requirement to wear face shields inside establishments such as malls and traditional public utility jeepneys (TPUJ).

Rama is scheduled to issue a directive Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, to allow people to enter establishments even without a face shield but it would still be mandatory to wear a face mask.

For air-conditioned transportation, the face shield requirement stays, but the malls wont need that anymore because these are not crowded places. The places that require face shields are hospitals, laboratories and other crowded places, Rama said.

Not sure who thinks malls aren't crowded places.

[WestCoast1]

The overnight curfew has been lifted in Metro Manila, another encouraging sign that things are starting to get back to normal there, but not so here in Cebu City which is currently under an 11.30 pm to 4 am overnight curfew. Apparently the police in Cebu City are not keen on lifting the curfew. They are not health professionals so I'm not sure why they should have any input into this, it should not be of any concern to them and they should mind their own business!

Speaking of Cebu. Seems things might be changing: Lifting of the face shield.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/rama-lifts...100000951.html

From the article:

CEBU City Acting Mayor Michael Rama will lift the requirement to wear face shields inside establishments such as malls and traditional public utility jeepneys (TPUJ).

Rama is scheduled to issue a directive Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, to allow people to enter establishments even without a face shield but it would still be mandatory to wear a face mask.

For air-conditioned transportation, the face shield requirement stays, but the malls wont need that anymore because these are not crowded places. The places that require face shields are hospitals, laboratories and other crowded places, Rama said.

Not sure who thinks malls aren't crowded places.

[Bushes]

Unfortunately it has become a bipartisan argument. Fauci is in CYA mode and has changed the website info on the research and is demanding more information from the researchers who received the funding. WHO has finally paid attention and that the project recipients were probably not the most impartial inspectors / investigators; unfortunately since they are probably the most knowledgeable. Google is your friend.

As the released US intelligence report suggested, we will most likely miss / missed the window to find the source of the Covid-Sars2/ Covid19 virus. Information out of China is protected by extremely strong data privacy laws.

These are the 2020 UN Human rights council members Bolivia, China, côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, France, Gabon, Malawi, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan.

Russian Federation, Senegal, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. Would I dare imply the wolf guarding the hen house?

As for the Covid pill, Fantastic! (If you or your insurance company has USD1000) Pfizer has really done a great pr and suggested allowing generics to be manufactured for several hundred USD eventually. A really bold and strategic move to take the high road. In more ways than one $. This is really great because it shows how money moves everything. Live Aid started a lot of the AIDS research and we are benefiting from research funded and derived from that era.

Unfortunately, research on SARs gain of function was not done of ISS or on the moon ala "Prometheus".

Every time I hear Fauci, I think of the gain of function research he funded in Wuhan and kept quiet for a year and a half. Then there is the no mask advice. And the no PPE advice.

At least in Prometheus, they did the experiments and storage on a different planet / universe and not on the other side of the same planet.

As for the vaccine research, the test groups are not in the millions. Phase 3 trials might be in the thousands. It depends on what is reported back to the manufacturer from the front line doctors / medical institutions. There is not a bottomless pit of money to pay for tests. I am sure, many things fall through the cracks and will only surface later. Covid tests cost money are are not 100% accurate..

[WestCoast1]

What an amazing feat for the major drug companies to get thru trials for their various Covid vaccines in record time (warp speed). From:

http://www.marginc.com/wp-content/up...or_website.pdf

The article:

A clinical trial (or study) consists of three phases. Even before any of the phases begin,
treatments are thoroughly tested in labs, sometimes on animals, in order to gather valuable
information about the toxicity of the investigational treatments.

Phase I studies are done to identify the proper dosage ranges for which an investigational drug
can be administered while monitoring and studying the method of absorption and possible
toxicity of a new treatment. In Phase I studies, an investigational drug is tested for the first time
in small numbers (usually between 20 and 100 subjects) on healthy volunteers. Volunteers are
administered the study drug in a single dose to start, with dosages gradually increasing until
minor side effects occur. This gives researchers valuable information on how the drug interacts
with the body while also alerting them to the common side effects. Participants in Phase I
studies are often confined for 24 hour periods at special overnight research centers where they
are closely studied and monitored with frequent blood and urine tests.

SNIP

In Phase II studies, researchers begin to understand the safety and effectiveness of the
investigational drug being tested. Phase II studies also deal with a relatively small number of
subjects, usually between 100 and 300 patients that have the targeted disease or condition.
Like Phase I studies, safety is the main goal of these trials. Phase II studies can often take
between one and three years to complete and are geared towards adjusting treatment doses.
Researchers are also looking to monitor common side effects and whether patients improve as
a result of the drug. In Phase II studies subjects are randomized, or assigned to different
groups. One of the groups receives the study drug while the other group, or control group, will
receive the standard treatment or a placebo for part or possibly the duration of the study. Phase
II studies are usually double-blinded, which means neither the patient nor the researchers know
whether a patient is receiving the investigational drug or a placebo/standard treatment. Only
about 1/3 of drugs that enter clinical testing complete the Phase II process.

Phase III studies provide the facts about an investigational drug through extensive testing of
the safety, efficacy, and proper dosage levels in a large group of patients with a specific illness
or disease. In a Phase III study the investigational drug may be tested on several thousand
subjects over a two to five year span. In Phase III, the goal is to have practicing physicians
evaluate the investigational drug and its positive and negative effects. Often times the Phase III
research includes evaluating the safety and effectiveness of treatment on various subsets of
patients such as men versus women, African American versus Caucasian, elderly versus
young, etc. Many drugs tested in Phase III may already be approved by the FDA but are being
evaluated against a placebo or the existing standard treatment for the particular illness or
disease. Treatments that have reached Phase III have already passed toxicity testing and have
proved to be at least somewhat effective. About 80% of drugs that enter Phase III will
successfully complete it.

[WestCoast1]

Some Covid stuff. Looks like a new treatment for Covid, from Pfizer. I think its a pill, given to those who are already sick. The study is not huge in number of subjects (I think I read about 800 people), but it looks very promising. Merck has already applied for a similar treatment FDA authorization:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-sa...110635778.html

From the article:

A pill to treat COVID-19 from Pfizer significantly cut the risk of hospitalization and death in a clinical trial, the company has announced.

Pfizer said Friday its pill to treat COVID-19, Paxlovid, in a clinical trial was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent when it was given within three days of the onset of symptoms, The New York Times reports. The trial consisted of participants "who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness," Pfizer said, and there were no deaths among the group treated with Paxlovid compared to 10 deaths in the placebo group, per ABC News.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla described the news as a "real game-changer," adding the data suggests the pill "has the potential to save patients' lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations." Pfizer executive Annaliesa Anderson also told The New York Times the "results are really beyond our wildest dreams."

[Albert9989]

Thanks mdemde for these infos.

Anyway if they keep a night curfew, at least could they decide to open borders.

Still waiting.

But, still no clear signs of opening, waiting.

And, waiting also for your next story in the Cebu section.

[Mdemde]

The overnight curfew has been lifted in Metro Manila, another encouraging sign that things are starting to get back to normal there, but not so here in Cebu City which is currently under an 11.30 pm to 4 am overnight curfew. Apparently the police in Cebu City are not keen on lifting the curfew. They are not health professionals so I'm not sure why they should have any input into this, it should not be of any concern to them and they should mind their own business!

The police have said the overnight curfew had contributed to lowering the crime volume in the city, which it probably has, but the reason given for the overnight curfew when it was introduced was to try to contain the virus, not to reduce crime levels.

News report today from Sunstar, link below;.

PHILIP A. CEROJANO
November 04, 2021
CEBU City may also lift its curfew for a gradual shift to the new normal amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, following the announcement that the curfew in Metro Manila, comprised of 17 local government units, will be lifted on Nov. 4.

We will discuss it from the convergence point of view. If and when we are ready, then why not? Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama said on Wednesday, Nov. 3.

The acting mayor said he would first discuss the matter with officials of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Ahead of this meeting, however, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said Wednesday it would not recommend lifting the curfew.

The acting mayor has not said when he will convene the convergence meeting of the various sectors, including the business sector.

City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the EOC, also said they would have to observe the Covid-19 situation in the city first.

Now, its too early. We have yet to see the effects of the loosening of our restrictions, on Covid-19 infections. Maybe in two weeks time, we are going to reassess the situation because it hasnt been too long yet that we allowed the minors to go out of their homes, Garganera said.

Since Covid-19 reached Cebu City, the City has imposed a curfew.

Last year, the curfew began as early as 8 p.m. during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period, the strictest quarantine classification. This was moved later to 10 p.m. during the period of modified general community quarantine.

Now that the Alert Level System has been implemented and the city has been placed under Alert Level 2, the curfew has become shorter at from 11:30 pm to 4 a.m.

Under Alert Level 2 and since Oct. 25, minors in the city have been allowed to go out of their homes to enter establishments permitted to operate at limited capacity, for as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Just like in Metro Manila, new Covid-19 cases in Cebu City have dropped. Cebu City Health Department data show that in the last 10 days, 45 of the citys 80 barangays had not recorded any Covid-19 transmission.

Despite this, Police Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy city director for operation, wants the curfew maintained.

Parilla said the curfew had done a lot to reduce the number of new Covid-19 cases because this limited the mobility of the people at night.

The curfew had also contributed to lowering the crime volume in the city in the past few months as people returned home early.

We prefer to still have a curfew because at least we would still be in control. Aside from controlling (the growth of) Covid cases, the curfew has had a big impact on crime volume, Parilla said.

In fact, the CCPOs Covid-19 response that has kept Covid-19 cases low was even held up as a model, whose best practices Camp Crame instructed all police regional offices nationwide to adopt.

Police Col. Roderick Minong, deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office 7, said that while Covid-19 cases in major cities in the capital and in Mindanao increased, Covid cases in Cebu City continued to decline.

Parilla said the CCPO could only propose the maintenance of the curfew to the EOC, and that if the government decided to lift the curfew, it would have to abide by this.

As of Nov. 3, there were only around 200 active cases of Covid-19 in Cebu City. As a result, the critical care utilization rate (CCUR) of the 15 hospitals located in Cebu City has been declining.

From the 80 percent CCUR in August, that brought harrowing scenes of patients receiving treatment inside their cars while waiting in line outside hospitals, now there is only a 15.48 percent occupancy of Covid-19 beds in hospitals, where only 63 patients from Cebu City continue to be treated for the viral infection.

Only barangays Talamban and Guadalupe have had active cases in the double-digits, at 16 and 14 active cases, in the past 10 days.

Some barangays had only one to eight active cases.

The EOC recorded only 10 new cases from 498 individuals who were swabbed, on Nov. 2.

Rama urged the people not to give up on their usual health precautions despite the decline in Covid cases in the city.

The Metro Manila Council (MMC) has agreed to lift the unified curfew hours in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) starting Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said.

A resolution signed by all the 17 Metro Manila mayors and MMDA chairman Benhur Abalos stated that the standardized 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. curfew imposed during the surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the Metro over the past month has been lifted.

However, the existing local ordinances on the curfew hours for persons below 18 years old will remain in effect.

Abalos said with the Christmas season approaching, mall operators also agreed to extend their operating hours until 11 p.m., instead of the usual 10 p.m. (CTL, AYB, TPM / SunStar Philippines)

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1...ice-not-for-it

[WestCoast1]

Taxi's. Good luck. There has been for 4 days running a shortage of both Grab and regular taxi's. When Grabbing a Taxi (after 10 am, about), after entering departure and destination points, I quickly get a msg: "Sorry there are no drivers available". I then try a Grab car, same result. I have spent more than 10 minutes (or 20) at a time each of the last 4 days hunting taxi's on busy streets. The rare taxi that does come by already has a passenger.

Also, traffic is almost back to normal in the daytime -- bad since the past few weeks. It seems as if the number of cars on the road and people in the streets and sidewalk has increased, but not the number of taxi's.

[WestCoast1]

Finally learned what the new 'Alert Levels' are. See pic. This replaces the previous ECQ / MCQ.

When the NCR came out of its last strict MECQ, we were at Level 4 (the strictest of 1 thru 4 levels). Then the past few weeks they lightened up to Level 3, which is set to continue thru Nov 14:

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news...14-2021/story/

From the article:

Under Alert Level 3, several establishments including restaurants, gyms, cinemas and movie houses will be allowed to operate at 30% indoor venue capacity only for fully vaccinated individuals and 50% outdoor venue capacity, provided that all employees are fully vaccinated. I am used to pulling up my vax card on my phone before entering most any coffee shop now. While many eateries have re-opened, they have most of the chairs removed or taped off, and you can only enter if fully vaxxed.

In addition, two articles on the need to lower the Alert Level to 2, with reduced new cases and the economy (adding p3. 6 billion to the economy weekly).

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/23/...vid-19-decline

https://www.bworldonline.com/further...Q2DMGaBRUSU_9w

And there are about 78 NCR areas under lockdown:

https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/natio...dlBtdKk3plUNPU

From the article:

The number of areas under granular lockdown in the National Capital Region (NCR) has increased to 78 from 76 as of Tuesday, based on data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) released Wednesday.

In an update, the PNP said the areas under lockdown are located in 54 barangays. The areas under granular lockdown included 46 houses, 21 residential buildings, seven subdivisions or villages, and four streets. According to the PNP Public Information Office, local government units (LGUs) have the authority to impose or lift the lockdowns. To ensure security and adherence to minimum health standards, the PNP has deployed 304 personnel and 254 force multipliers to the concerned areas.

Metro Manila Council (MMC) head and Paraaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez earlier said the presence of one COVID-19 case is enough to lock down a house or a condominium floor. To impose a lockdown along an entire street, there should be at least two COVID-19 cases.

[Dg8787]

Hello guys. Whats the latest on the tourist visa entry to philippines? Can tourists visit without quarantine?

Not allowed for USA tourist.

[WestCoast1]

Hello guys. Whats the latest on the tourist visa entry to philippines? Can tourists visit without quarantine?

I believe tourists can not yet visit.

On another, but good, note. See pic. In the news this morning was an article on which vaccines will be accepted by the US when inbound foreigner travel starts next month in the US. If the US is about to do it, others will probably watch for spikes, then follow suit.

WC.