General Info

By Margret Fermin -May 3, 2021.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reminded the public that foreign tourists are still banned from entering the Philippines despite the lifting of certain travel restrictions that took effect Saturday.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente stressed that only foreigners with valid and existing visas are currently allowed to enter the country.

"Foreign tourists are still prohibited from entering the country and said restriction remains effective until it is lifted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) " Morente said.

He explained that the country only reverted to implementing the travel international guidelines that existed prior to March 22 when the government reimposed a ban on the entry of all foreigners due to recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

"The recent easing of travel restrictions applies only to those aliens who were allowed to come here before March 22 and they should have valid and existing visas at the time of their arrival in our ports of entry," the BI chief added.

The BI earlier announced that starting May 1 aliens with existing immigrant and non-immigrant visas may again enter the country.

Exempted from the visa requirement are the foreign spouse and children of Balikbayans or returning Filipinos and former Filipinos who are travelling with the latter.

Foreigners who are holders of valid and existing Special Resident and Retirees Visa (SRRV) or Section 9 (a) temporary visitors' visas may be allowed entry, provided they present an entry exemption document from the Department of Foreign Affairs upon arrival.

Execept for foreign diplomats and members of international organizations, all foreign travelers are required to present a pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel of facility where they will be tested for COVID-19 on the sixth day from date of their arrival.

The BI also emphasied that following the IATF-MEID, travellers who came from India or have a travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding their arrival are banned from entering the country until May 14.

[URL]https://philippineslifestyle.com/foreign-tourists-still-banned-from-ph-bi-reminds-public/[/URL]

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2555697]Manila: Traffic is way down. Arrived at NAIA on a Wednesday, 4 pm. Easily got a taxi, and was at my hotel in Makati in 15 minutes. At no time of day have I seen rush-hour traffic (yet).[/QUOTE]Shots of Taft Ave, near Ocampo, mid-afternoon. First 2 pics from the east side of the street (looking both north and south). Last 2 pics from the west side of the street (looking north, and south). Same on Mabini. At times its a tomb out there. OTOH, the Monday and Tuesday this week following Labor Day holiday the traffic has been considerably worse.

[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2554569]Short answer Lies and Magic. Truth is only 20% of the population WANT to get vaccinated and they have only jabed 1. 5 m single dose and 230 k fully vaccinated so it would take 33 years to vaccinate [/QUOTE]Those that don't get the vaccine will get a more natural set of antibodies by contracting the disease and recovering. Lots of unknowns and mutations. I am sure that once the western countries have their / our home countries secured then there will be more effort to bring along the developing world.

[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2554569]Short answer Lies and Magic. Truth is only 20% of the population WANT to get vaccinated and they have only jabed 1. 5 m single dose and 230 k fully vaccinated so it would take 33 years to vaccinate the population at the current rate and they also admitted that vaccinations due to the lock down have come to a screeching halt. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=BrizLad;2556848]Those that don't get the vaccine will get a more natural set of antibodies by contracting the disease and recovering. Lots of unknowns and mutations. I am sure that once the western countries have their / our home countries secured then there will be more effort to bring along the developing world.[/QUOTE]And news out in the last week that the US is now in the same boat. Jabs have fallen in the last few weeks from 3 million per day to under 2 million. A large portion of the population is either unsure, or does not want, a jab. States are now in the position moving excess jabs to states with greater need. Excess jabs: Who would have thunk it? Herd immunity might be far off. Some reading:

Popular Science: [URL]https://www.popsci.com/story/health/covid-19-herd-immunity-unlikely-in-america/[/URL].

Fox News: [URL]https://www.foxnews.com/health/herd-immunity-looking-unlikely-in-us-report-says[/URL].

[QUOTE=Mdemde;2556189]By Margret Fermin -May 3, 2021.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reminded the public that foreign tourists are still banned from entering the Philippines despite the lifting of certain travel restrictions that took effect Saturday.

SNIP

The BI also emphasied that following the IATF-MEID, travellers who came from India or have a travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding their arrival are banned from entering the country until May 14.[/QUOTE]Harsh. Man, that's harsh.

Morsel: Tiny provincial beauty, the opposite of harsh.

In today's Daily Tribune newspaper, article "Herd Immunity achievable - Panelo", by Jomelle Garner (print version only, can't find it online). According to the article, Philippines received 7. 5 M doses this month (AstraZenica and Sinovac). "Panelo also said National Task Force Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr told him that 44 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in June. Galvez added that at least 13.5 million vaccines are expected to be shipped to the country in July. The vaccines czar said the country needed 15 million vaccines per month to inoculate 70 percent of the population of 110 million Filipinos and achieve herd immunity before the end of the year".

Reekaay recently posted his experience with covid in the Philippines. At first glance I was inclined to believe Reekaay but as foreigners in phils we all of a sudden are awarded a honorary PhD in medicine. We all know every foreigner knows best when it comes to medical issues and we are never wrong. Dr. Google would never lie to us or lead us astray we after all have a natural affinity for figuring out health problems and solving them right? Reekaay is saying that he got a false positive covid test. However there are studies that show a black fungal infection coincides with a covid infection. As seen in the due diligence below which was not in favor of Reekaays biased opinion. So Reekaay could very well have been guilty of what his subscribers were accusing him of being a super spreader of said virus. Of course he would want to refute this and try to debunk the fact that he had covid or spread it however after going over the facts provided by the guy himself it looks as if we was spreading this virus around and has the secondary black mold infection as a tell tale sign of the covid infection. He went into how one can possibly get this infection in his video trying to pass it off, however this virus has proven to cultivate this infection allowing it to take hold in covid patients. I am sure he in even now unaware of this fact and is still trying to deny his part in spreading covid.

I think there are 2 wrongs here.

#1 Locals often times choose to ignore foreigners concerns and disregard them. I feel as if foreigners innately look down on the medical care philipinos provide and the medical staff picks up on this pretty easily and holds it against them.

#2 Foreigners do a few google searches and instantly think they are an expert on said issues. Overstayroad's Marcos learned the hard way that what he thought was chicken pox was HFMD instead, foreigners often miss diagnose their illness, cause confusion, interject miss information and extra work when these medical professionals are trying their best to help.

It sounds as if they are just troll bashing Reekaay but he very well could have been spreading covid around, and he is extremely unapologetic about it and adamantly trying to indemnify himself.

What is your take of Foreigners and their obsession with Dr. Google? Why so much miss trust in medical professionals in phils (I know why just want to see what everyone else has to say about this)? Think Reekaay should be more apologetic?

"Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis Associated With COVID-19".

[URL]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7599039/[/URL]

Hello,

How is the Covid-19 situation in the Philippine Islands in general (Luzon) and in the other islands?

[QUOTE=JonesLover;2559821]Hello,

How is the Covid-19 situation in the Philippine Islands in general (Luzon) and in the other islands?[/QUOTE]Read back the last 5 pages of this forum (General Info). Also the last few pages of the Makati forum.

Yet another youtuber in the Philippines tests positive for covid (philly in the philippines). They go in and expect a negative test because they "feel ok" but the only reason why Philippines covid numbers remain low is because almost no one willingly takes these tests. They associate covid is serious illness which is a single digit piece of the covid pie. I would say almost all covid positive people are asymptomatic. You have to be extremely lucky / unlucky to get any symptoms. In my opinion COVID has been and is currently raging and has never stopped in the Philippines despite their non reporting of the cases due to non existent testing. But the foreigners all start attacking the health care system and try to discredit the tests where as if they received a negative test they wouldn't have looked into any of it. Bottom line is these foreigners HAVE had covid and they don't understand that the reason why having covid is dangerous is breeding variants. The original covid (0. 01% mortality rate) virus wasn't like MERS (36% mortality rate) or SARS (55% mortality rate) fairly benign to over 95% of the population but it has the possibility of turning into a much more deadly variant which is slowed down by quarantining yourself as to not foster an environment where variants are developed. Reekaay actually developed a far more deadly ailment aside from covid the black mold illness (Mucormycosis) has a (50% mortality rate). Which means our normal everyday hotels in the Philippines have a far reaching and extremely hazardous problem which is black mold spores in the air conditioning systems. Which is why you wouldn't want to quarantine in a "budget" hotel. Foreigners seem to have the extremely selfish misconception that this if you aren't sick you should be able to run around. Until they do have significant uptake in the vaccine it is still a giant petri dish for possible variants.

In honor of the inevitable preparation of the vaccine passport I scheduled my mutant mRNA vaccine, I heard that most places are putting the Pfizer, Moderna & JNJ vaccines on the vaccine passport list I went with moderna. Remember to keep your card in a safe place, might be the single most important paper we bring with up to that customs counter. June / July ticket prices to the Philippines starting to skyrocket.

[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2560703]Yet another youtuber in the Philippines tests positive for covid (philly in the philippines). They go in and expect a negative test because they "feel ok" but the only reason why Philippines covid numbers remain low is because almost no one willingly takes these tests. They associate covid is serious illness which is a single digit piece of the covid pie. I would say almost all covid positive people are asymptomatic. You have to be extremely lucky / unlucky to get any symptoms. In my opinion COVID has been and is currently raging and has never stopped in the Philippines despite their non reporting of the cases due to non existent testing. But the foreigners all start attacking the health care system and try to discredit the tests where as if they received a negative test they wouldn't have looked into any of it. Bottom line is these foreigners HAVE had covid and they don't understand that the reason why having covid is dangerous is breeding variants. The original covid (0. 01% mortality rate) virus wasn't like MERS (36% mortality rate) or SARS (55% mortality rate) fairly benign to over 95% of the population but it has the possibility of turning into a much more deadly variant which is slowed down by quarantining yourself as to not foster an environment where variants are developed. Reekaay actually developed a far more deadly ailment aside from covid the black mold illness (Mucormycosis) has a (50% mortality rate). Which means our normal everyday hotels in the Philippines have a far reaching and extremely hazardous problem which is black mold spores in the air conditioning systems. Which is why you wouldn't want to quarantine in a "budget" hotel. Foreigners seem to have the extremely selfish misconception that this if you aren't sick you should be able to run around. Until they do have significant uptake in the vaccine it is still a giant petri dish for possible variants.

In honor of the inevitable preparation of the vaccine passport I scheduled my mutant mRNA vaccine, I heard that most places are putting the Pfizer, Moderna & JNJ vaccines on the vaccine passport list I went with moderna. Remember to keep your card in a safe place, might be the single most important paper we bring with up to that customs counter. June / July ticket prices to the Philippines starting to skyrocket.[/QUOTE]As some may know, I live in Davao, in Southern Mindanao. Yesterday received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the use of which has been expanding rapidly here as the country seems to acquire millions of additional doses with every week that passes. To date, as far as I know, the Pfizer doses are reserved for those of us who are at least 60. AstraZeneca-Oxford is also being used widely, but again strictly for senior citizens. Aside from frontline medical personnel—most of whom appear to have received the Sinovac (Chinese) vaccine—the vaccine distribution is still limited to senior citizens and this limitation will likely continue through June. The vaccination certificate (card) that I received notes the vaccine type and the batch number and I was cautioned to retain the card, which now sits next to my passport.

I cannot speak for areas outside of Davao, but here at least stringent mask requirements are observed as is the wearing of face shields. Virtually all commercial establishments of whatever type require masks and shields and are quick to enforce the mandate. The police presence on the streets is almost ubiquitous and motorists—including Jeepney drivers, trike drivers and cab drivers—are pulled over if appropriate masking protocols are not followed. Masks are also required even for private cars and again, this rule is enforced. The bottom line is that the city appears to be doing what it can to reduce the spread.

The government has not, to my knowledge, provided any information regarding a relaxation of the rules restricting the entry of foreigners. My assumption is that the rules will not be relaxed until a higher percentage of Filipinos has been vaccinated. For those of you anxious to return here, I would not count on re-entering the country any time in the near future. The vaccine rollout here is just moving into a higher gear.

GE.

[QUOTE=JonesLover;2559821]Hello,

How is the Covid-19 situation in the Philippine Islands in general (Luzon) and in the other islands?[/QUOTE]Westie said nicely RTFF and I can add to read the local news online. Can tell you the same mostly. I read online Philippines news during the week and if you spend 15 minutes on various sites you can get a feel also.

[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2559041]
What is your take of Foreigners and their obsession with Dr. Google? Why so much miss trust in medical professionals in phils (I know why just want to see what everyone else has to say about this)? [/QUOTE]Saw this post and wrote a long reply which I deleted. I have had good medical treatment for locally acquired illnesses in Ph in the years 2017-2018 when I lived there. As to my opinions of the chances of ongoing good health care in Ph, I will cherry pick a few indicators:

Average life span Ph 71.1 Au 81.

USA CDC Budget $1 B.

PH CDC (as of December 2020 still being established).

Number of doctors per head of population (PH 0. 6/1,000 people, USA 2. 6/1,000 AU 3. 4/1,000).

Number of medical patents issued to Ph doctors and research companies?

Number of Filipino doctors awarded international honours.

Number of medical papers published by the Filipino research community?

For me the issue if that the Filipino medical system is bouncing along the bottom barely able to sustain itself and unable to do the higher level thinking that we see in the west. Of course there are individual differences. Systemically it's hard to see Ph being a leading country for medical advances and treatments.

I cherry picked facts and did not do any rigorous analysis. just wanted to establish a vibe that Ph is an emerging economy and simply doesn't have the institutional structures to support a high performing medical system.

[QUOTE=BrizLad;2561200]
Number of doctors per head of population (PH 0. 6/1,000 people, USA 2. 6/1,000 AU 3. 4/1,000).
[/QUOTE]That is a reasonable assumption that the Philippines may have a lower standard of care however if you do seek out a western country level of care you should be able to find one befitting such a price tag of course. (There was a post here about people flying to manila from Guam because medical care is better in manila.) This would then make a strong case for never going to a local hospital / witch doctor and always visiting a highest ranked hospital in whatever hole you happen to be in. I would also suggest you tell them to NOT cut corners in lieu of cost. (I routinely go to the dentist in phils, I actually still do this because its much cheaper and they always try to do procedures without anesthetic. I have to explicitly tell them to not cut corners with me. You get what you pay for in this instance.) Since as a foreigner you can afford a higher standard of care (or should be able to) you should have no problem paying for it.

Would a western doctor be better than a local doctor I would of course say yes due to better funding better resources and better education. But I would also make the argument that even the most poorly trained "doctor" or "nurse" for that matter is going to have better medical knowledge than your average foreigner. Its quite arrogant to think that some foreigner with 15 minutes of searching can be as adept as a medical professional of any kind. Confirmation bias is a slippery slope and Philly in the Philippines has just recently done some Dr. Google research and found an article that went along with his hypothesis that undermined the legitimacy of his covid test. He now has gone through the proper channels and has done the test correctly and has not yet released the result of that test. However it is his own fault for not being thorough in the first place and going to a reputable medical professional. So finding fault with some hole in the wall usually "fake" clinic should come as no surprise, not going through the proper channels has it price. Philly is a great guy but he has a hard time reading things out loud and I posit that it is dangerous for someone to be making medical decisions without proper training. I would be very surprised if these foreigners understand confirmation bias. Medical papers are filled with caveats and someone who has a hard time reading to begin with is not going to be able to navigate that well enough to come to a "safe" conclusion. Have I met my share of very nice expats? Yes! Have I met my share of smart expats? A resounding no? I would ask you this question would you take Reekaays or Phillys heath advice over a bonified doctor? I hope you are saying no here. My argument is that they shouldn't take their own advice either.

[QUOTE=WickedRoger;2560738]Westie said nicely RTFF.[/QUOTE]Can we infer that your pal Westie isn't always nice about saying RTFF? Oh no! I asked a question. Heaven forbid. What was I thinking! I will stand down and RTFF starting 5 pages back to see if Westie or anyone else on the RTFF squad has been using live bullets instead of tasers to discourage discourse on the ISG. LOL.