General Info

[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.

[Sandy1984]

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

[Soapy Smith]

Really can't trust world political organizations. Like the UN human rights. This is from WSJ. Google is your friend.

Google is whose friend? Should we assume this is sarcasm? Google and Apple recently shut down the social media app of the Russian opposition as Putin's re-election opened. Simply put, Google and Apple want to be able to continue to do business in Russia.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...fore-elections

Personally, I trust UN agencies more than other sources. The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, like other UN agencies, have more than 3,000 consulting NGOs at their disposal. This is because member nations often cannot be trusted to inform the broader UN body about things going on within their borders or conflicts with neighboring countries. NGOs are by nature, much more independent. I realize NGO is a dirty word in this forum, but there's really only a handful of them that are trying to catch human sex trafficking. There are plenty of things not to like about NGOs, but their consultative status with the UN is probably not one of them.

[Bushes]

The heads that rolled in China that I remember are 1) the doctor who cautioned his graduating medical school alumni class' forum to be careful out there as something is not right. And 2) the China doctor who released the Covid19 genetic sequence; though multiple labs in China had their own independent results. And 3) the China techies who tried to preserve the social media history of the early stages of the outbreak in China.

Some number crunches recently reported that calculation and their models estimates that actual covid cases are 16 times or such higher.

PCR and lateral flow tests are expensive. The former requires labs which the WHO has positioned around Africa. But the reagents are still expensive. When you start moving around and pay for your own tests, you will see.

Africa has a very low Covid infection rate. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop to explain why.

Really can't trust world political organizations. Like the UN human rights. This is from WSJ. Google is your friend.

World Bank Cancels Flagship 'Doing Business' Report After Investigation.

Probe faults leaders including Kristalina Georgieva, now IMF managing director, who disagrees with findings.

The WHO has strict requirements for its members to be accurate bean counters. China ran afoul a number of years ago and there was a terrible brouhaha. Heads rolled. The WHO can't do it's job unless there is accountability. No cooking the books. I would trust the numbers.

[The Rose]

I suspect that some countries on the Green List have supplied some of the green stuff to a number of officials to be honest. It's the only way they could be on it.

The WHO has strict requirements for its members to be accurate bean counters. China ran afoul a number of years ago and there was a terrible brouhaha. Heads rolled. The WHO can't do it's job unless there is accountability. No cooking the books. I would trust the numbers.

[WestCoast1]

I'm writing a personal letter to Brother Kim to expedite my North Korean passport application. And congratulations to the illustrious brother leader for his success against this pandemic.

Hahaha. Next time I have coffee with Kim, I will ask him to put a rush on that.

Pics:

1) Reason #181 why I love Phils. Couple of young honies just hanging around on their phones. They didn't seem to be waiting for a ride or anything. Just. . . Lounging outdoors.

2 & 3) Graphs from the CDC data showing Covid inoculation rate in the US. A peak around April of 4 million per day. Cratered off now to a fairly smooth 1 million per day. About 220 million dosed of 333 million people (66%; I think that is 1 dose or more, not necessarily fully dosed). By Christmas, that should be about 60 million more vaccines in arms, or about 280 million with 1 dose or more, closing 80% (herd immunity). Well, if it continues that way.

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/...racker-states/

From the article:

"At least 219,624,445 people or 67% of the population have received at least one dose. Overall, 189,924,447 people or 58% of the population have been fully vaccinated."

4) A reminder. When booking hotel / apartment / condo's in Philippines, you can use the number of persons allowed per room on websites such as Agoda, Booking, or Airbb. However, regardless of what it says on those sites (see pic, Queen bed hotel room good for up to 4 persons -- maybe), you should message the hotel first thru the website (or just call them) to confirm that before reserving (especially during Covid, so many rooms / condo's offered as NO REFUND), and then again a day or two prior to arrival. Rules change without notice. By that I mean: 1) Without notice from the government, and / or 2) Without notice from the hotel or condo owner.

Don't forget to tip your cabbie.

[Mahku]

I'm writing a personal letter to Brother Kim to expedite my North Korean passport application. And congratulations to the illustrious brother leader for his success against this pandemic.

[WestCoast1]

More vax stats, from the US CDC. See graphic. From a large sample, your chances of dying from Covid are this much greater for unvaccinated vs vaccinated in these age categories:

Age -- Increased risk for unvaccinated.

80+ ---- 5 x.

65-79 -- 15 x.

50-64 -- 22 x.

30-49 -- 30 x.

18-29 -- 54 x.

12-17 -- 5 x.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/age-still...090059106.html

From the article:

Data: CDC; Note: Data represents 30% of Americans across 16 jurisdictions: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York City, Seattle/King County, Wash., Utah and Wisconsin; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

[Soapy Smith]

I'm not starting a vaccine debate. Just looking at the absurdity of it all.

Did they ever find the corpses of those four British Airways pilots that died of covid?