Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong on Monday said he would remain as the country's contact tracing czar until the government finds a replacement following his "irrevocable resignation" over a socialite's viral party that violated pandemic guidelines.
“My work continues because I was asked to hold over the position last week. I met with Secretary Vince Dizon (testing czar) and talked to Secretary Charlie Galvez (chief implementer of COVID-19 National Task Force) over the phone and our agreement is to hold over while they are looking for a replacement," Magalong said.
The tracing czar said he hopes to increase the number of contact tracers on a par with the headcount during the last quarter of 2020.
"The issue is in the encoding, that's why budgetary costing has a big impact. But local officials are finding ways to add more contact tracers. If only we could hire again all the contact tracers last quarter of last year,” he said.
Magalong last month tendered his "irrevocable" resignation from being the country's contact tracing czar following his attendance at a party in his city where COVID-19 protocols were violated.
Forgers of COVID-19 test results face arrest
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday issued a stern warning to individuals faking reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests as it directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) “to prosecute these individuals to the fullest extent of the law”.
"The DILG directs the PNP to arrest and prosecute individuals who are forging their RT-PCR tests,” said DILG officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr. “This is a crime and is punishable under our law. We are also warning those people planning to fake their test certifications. Don't do it or else you'll go to jail,” he said.
Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases provides for penalties of P20,000 but not more than P50,000 or imprisonment of not less than one month but not more than six months, or both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court, for tampering with records relating to notifiable diseases.
22 with UK variant recover, DOH says
Twenty-two of the 25 cases infected with the new B.1.1.7 variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country have already recovered, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire added that one has died while two cases remain active.
The DOH previously identified the fatality as an 84-year-old male from La Trinidad, Benguet who had no known history of travel or contact with a COVID-19 case. The fatality’s 15-year-old female relative was also found to have the new variant.
The B.1.1.7 strain, initially discovered in the United Kingdom, was also detected in Bontoc, Mountain Province residents and in several returning overseas Filipinos.
Vergeire said the Philippine Genome Center is expected to sequence 720 samples this week to detect other cases of the UK variant.
Cebu UK variant patient in Metro Manila
The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas said Monday that the UK COVID-19 variant patient reported to be from Liloan, Cebu has gone to Metro Manila.
The 35-year-old male patient had been staying in Parañaque beginning November and has not come home since said spokesperson Mary Jean Loreche.
She said his test was taken as a requirement for a job application abroad and he has not gone home since.
1,690 new cases logged
The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday announced 1,690 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide total to 538,995, as five laboratories failed to submit data on time.
The DOH also recorded additional 52 COVID-related deaths and 23 recovered patients. This is the 10th straight day that additional deaths counted more than 50.
With 11,231 total fatalities and 499,772 total recoveries, the country's active cases stood at 27,992 or 5.2 percent of the cumulative total.
The 2.08 percent fatality rate is the highest in more than six months, according to the ABS-CBN Data Analytics Team.
The Philippines has been logging an increased number of deaths since last month. But the DOH said this is due to late reporting of deaths, with some only recently confirmed through “harmonization” of data with the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Church request up at IATF
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging, Infectious Diseases may take up during its next meeting the request for increasing the allowed capacity for religious events, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.
“The IATF may include the request of the bishops for a higher limit in the agenda of its next meeting,” Guevarra said, in a text message to reporters.
Guevarra made the statement following reports that officials of the Catholic Church is asking the government to expand the allowed capacity for religious activities after the OCTA Research Group said that the holiday season and the Feast of the Black Nazarene celebration last Jan. 9 did not cause any spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region.
DOH: Central Visayas still in ‘safe zone’
The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas said Monday it has the capacity to handle the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the region.
The region's current health care utilization is 36.7 percent, which is still within the "safe zone," said DOH-Central Visayas spokesperson Mary Jean Loreche in an interview on ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.
Palace spokesman in isolation
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said on Monday he was in isolation after a member of his staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Roque tested negative for the pathogen, he told reporters in an online briefing.
It is not the first time that Roque, who also serves as spokesman of the government's Inter-Agency Task Force against COVID-19, to go in isolation during the pandemic.