PinoyAbrod.net

“The case numbers they are presenting is not accurate. How can you tell if the number of cases did not double today if the test result will come out in at least two weeks?” San Pedro said.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A community doctor raised possible data gaps on how the Philippine government is detecting and isolating suspected and probable COVID-19 cases with testing centers mostly located in Metro Manila.

In a live webinar today, community medicine practitioner Josh San Pedro of the Coalition of People’s Right to Health said of the 22 accredited testing centers, only five are located outside Metro Manila.

Two regions – Region 4-B , which includes provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan (Mimaropa), and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao – have no testing centers.

Per the Department of Health, Region 4-B has 14 confirmed cases and two deaths. BARMM, on the other hand, has no active cases as of this writing but has recorded four deaths and seven recoveries.

This, along with shortage in both testing kits and health workers who are trained in biosafety, is contributing to the slow turnaround of test results.

“The case numbers they are presenting is not accurate. How can you tell if the number of cases did not double today if the test result will come out in at least two weeks?” San Pedro said.

Case doubling rate and the number of patients needing critical care are among the conditions needed to ease from a lockdown to a general community quarantine.

As of May 1, 2020, the health department said 103,692 unique individuals were tested. Nearly half of this, about 44,876 were carried out by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). This is still way below the health department’s own target number of testings per day.

San Pedro called for more testing centers, a more efficient contact tracing, mass hiring of health workers, and social protection for those severely affected.

The post Metro Manila-centric COVID-19 testing centers present gaps in mass testing, says community doc appeared first on Bulatlat.

By DEE AYROSO

The post Masks appeared first on Bulatlat.

A comic on the old and the potential new.

(Or The Old Normal, except much worse and more disgusting.)

It’s now just a thing from a distant past.

Except when it’s a mass gahdering.

New repressive laws, more violators, so what do we do? Build bigger prisons.

If you didn’t have money to buy a mask, will government provide you with one? No, you will be fined Php1,000.

Must we suffer under this so-called “new” world? Can we not have…

If a genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization are implemented, the countryside wll be bustling with jobs, increased food production, and economic growth. Supported by adequate social services, communities will truly serve as the first line of defense against a pandemic.

The New Normal should mean subsidies to affected sectors: farmers, workers in manufacturing and services, specially those in transportation who will forced to return to work without assurance of income. It should mean higher pay for health workers and scientists. Government resources should primarily go to that which helps improve people’s lives: agriculture, health care, education, science and technology. Did I mention pork barrel, or intelligence funds? No, I did not.

Done.

Justice. It’s what we need, the New Normal should bring justice. Punishment must come for the most corrupt and abusive government officials, human rights violators and tyrants.

To see each other as thinking, caring human beings, who, as a collective force, can handle any crisis. We are not a mindless mob that the state needs to keep in check inside barbed fences and restrictive laws.

Can there be a defensive force against a virus, an environmental plunderer, a dictator, a foreign aggressor, and other destructive forces? See above. It’s the people, of course. I know, it’s a work in progress, but let’s hope things will eventually get to a new and improved normal.

By DEE AYROSO

The post Choose your New Normal appeared first on Bulatlat.

“OFWs deserve to get steady and efficient relief at this time of crisis. The Duterte regime better stop treating Filipino migrants as milking cows to subsidize big private profit in a country dominated by profit-oriented healthcare facilities.”

By EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — A global organization of overseas Filipino workers, Migrante International, welcomed as initial victory the suspension of PhilHealth premium hike for OFWs but insisted that the mandatory collection must be scrapped altogether.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday has ordered PhilHealth to suspend the collection of higher premiums from OFWs.

In a statement, Migrante International attributed “the initial gain” to the “strong opposition raised by Filipino migrant communities far and wide.” Over 400,000 OFWs have signed an online petition calling for the removal of the mandatory PhilHealth premim hike and 180 Filipino migrant organizations issued a joint statement highlighting the same demand.

“One thing is clear though from Spokesperson Harry Roque’s announcement – suspension will not suffice for long. The Duterte regime is merely dousing cold water to the Philhealth issue in its attempt to sedate the loud outrage of Filipino migrants against this unjust and extortionate law. OFWs are not asking for a mere suspension. They want it completely scrapped,” Migrante International said.

The group called on President Rodrigo Duterte to order for a complete repeal of the mandatory Philhealth exaction from the Universal Healthcare Law (UHC). Signed in February 2019, Republic Act No. 11223 or the Universal Health Care Law stipulates the tiered premium hike for OFWs.

PhilHealth Circular 2020-0014 issued last month implements the UHC aw by requiring all OFWs to submit their proof of income, from which the amount of their premium payments will be computed.

OFWs are also required to remit three percent of their annual salaries to PhilHealth. By 2021, the contribution will be raised to 3.5 percent and will be raised annually until the amount hits five percent by 2024.

“Duterte can’t just simply wash his hands clean from responsibility when he even certified UHC as urgent back in 2018…Until we see efforts to amend the Universal Healthcare Law, Duterte’s recommendation to make the payment for OFWs voluntary, still is yet to be seen,” the group said.

Migrante International also noted that Duterte’s recommendation also leaves out overseas Filipinos who are dual citizens when both overseas Filipinos and migrant workers will be severely affected by the mandatory premium increase.

“OFWs deserve to get steady and efficient relief at this time of crisis. The Duterte regime better stop treating Filipino migrants as milking cows to subsidize big private profit in a country dominated by profit-oriented healthcare facilities,” Migrante International said.

The group also said that Senator Bong Go’s call for PhilHealth to consider delaying the collection of higher premiums is also not enough. “Even without the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, the premium hike will still be rejected by Filipino migrants,” the group said.

Migrante International said OFWs are refuting Go’s claim that the benefits under Duterte’s mandatory Philhealth exaction outweigh premium payments since there are no Philhealth accredited hospitals abroad.

The post Suspension not enough, scrap mandatory Philhealth for OFWs – group appeared first on Bulatlat.