TACLOBAN CITY-The vaccination activities here in the city resumed Monday (June 21) after of more than a week of temporary stoppage.
The scheduled inoculation drive on June 21 to 25 at the USAID Building in Kanhuraw Hill will be for target barangays 76, 1&4, 50-A, 59-B, 59, and 79.
On June 21 to 24, another vaccination drive will take place at Robinsons North Tacloban Mall in Abucay for the A2 Priority Group or Senior Citizens.
These senior citizens will come from target Barangays 3&3A, 18, 17, 28, 47, 5, 89, 30, and 50-B.
Around 500 elderly citizens of the city are expected to receive the jab at each site on the said dates, from 8a.m. to 11a.m., according to the city government.
Senior citizens scheduled for inoculation are reminded to bring their OSCA ID, ball pen, and QR Code; wear facemask and face shield; and show confirmation text message at the verification area to get a priority number.
“No walk-in will be allowed. Only senior clients who have received the confirmation text will be entertained. Those not belonging to the A2 category will not be entertained,” the city government said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the city government said the resumption of the vaccination drive came after a week’s pause due to the surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases which also infected several vaccinated healthcare workers or vaccinators in the city.
Dr. Gloria Fabrigas, acting city health officer, said three nurses, one doctor, two information technologists, and two medical technologists were tested positive for COVID-19.
“However, even before they were infected with the virus, they have been isolated,” said Fabrigas.
The infected health workers were discharged last June 19.
The health official also clarified the confusion over the online vaccination registration that checks the status of the applicant’s jab appointment.
The clarification was issued after some alleged complaints in recent weeks, saying that registrants have not been given their schedules after signing up for vaccination.
Under the new system, https://safecity.tacloban.gov.
Citing Fabrigas, the city’s information arm said that registering online does not mean that the applicant can immediately be notified of their schedule and can be vaccinated.
“Almost 15,000 have already registered online, but this does not denote that they will be automatically be inoculated. It has to follow the priority population,” Fabrigas said.
“They have to be scheduled based on the priority groups (A1-A3) and second, they have to be verified by the barangay,” she added.
According to the health officer, the vaccination activities in the city also depend on the vaccine allocation by the Department of Health (DOH).
As of June 17, the city received 3,000 doses of Sinovac shots, which are good for 1,500 vaccine recipients.
It was learned that since the start of the rollout, about 15,300 people have received the COVID-19 jab and of the said number, almost 9,000 have been fully vaccinated.
Meantime, Tacloban officials urged the public to continue complying with minimum health standards.
Individuals who will be scheduled for vaccination are also advised to get ample rest right after getting their shot, as it typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity, the city government said.
“COVID-19 is here to stay, so we can’t neglect the fact that we need to follow the minimum health standards–it is a shared responsibility,” Fabrigas said. (RONALD O. REYES)
After more than a week of suspension, vaccination drive in Tacloban resumes
DOH renews call to place EV under GCQ
Amid record-breaking daily COVID-19 cases
TACLOBAN CITY-The Regional Task Force against COVID-19(RIATF) and the Department of Health(DOH) has renewed its call before the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) to approve their recommendation to place the region under a stricter General Community Quarantine (GCQ) due to its successive record-breaking daily cases of the dreaded disease.
On Saturday (June 19), the DOH reported of 606 cases which increased further on Sunday (June 20) with 712 new cases, by far the highest recorded in the region since the pandemic started last year.
Currently, the total coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region now stands at 27,247 with 2,815 considered as active cases.
Nine new deaths were also reported by the DOH on weekend with the oldest involving a 97-year-old woman who succumbed on June 10 with the youngest involving a 52-year-old man who died on June 8. Both were from the town of Burauen, Leyte.
“In response to this overwhelming spike of cases in the region, the DOH and the Regional Task Force against COVID-19 continues its recommendation to the NIATF to escalate the community quarantine classification of Eastern Visayas from Modified General Community Quarantine to General Community Quarantine,” the DOH said in a statement.
The continued increase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region was attributed by the DOH due to super spreader events like birthday parties, reunions and other gatherings that gathers big number of people.
“The fleeting joy and celebration that the public is hopeful about when they meet in social gatherings may cause a dreadful ending for others, especially the vulnerable groups,” the DOH said.
According to the DOH, with the surge of cases in the region, medical health facilities are now overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
At the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Magsaysay Boulevard, this city, out of its 111 -bed capacity for COVID-19 patients, 86 are now occupied.
Likewise, almost all provincial hospitals and private hospitals in the region are also experiencing almost full capacities, the DOH said.
With the surge of COVID-19 cases, the DOH has called on the hospitals to also increase their COVID-19 bed capacities to accommodate more patients infected of the virus.
The DOH also reported that at least four hospitals in the region have ceased operations since June 18 due to high infection among its medical workers and staff.
These are the Felipe Abrigo Memorial Hospital and Saint Jude Hospital, both in Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Pintuyan District Hospital in Pintuyan, Southern Leyte; and the Kananga Municipal Hospital in Kananga town, Leyte.
Rep. Romualdez to consider VP run
TACLOBAN CITY- Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said that he was ‘humbled and honored’ for being endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte as his candidate for vice president in next year’s elections.
Romualdez, the majority floor leader of the House of Representatives, however, said that the pronouncement of the President caught him off guard but still ‘pleasantly surprised.’
Mr. Duterte, who is to step down June 30, 2022, announced that if ever Romualdez would run for the vice presidency, he would not run and would give way to the Leyte solon instead.
“I was pleasantly surprised( by the President endorsement).I’m very, very humbled and honored that he would consider us, congressman from Eastern Visayas, a developing region…for the second highest position in the land,” Romualdez said in an online interview.
Asked when he would decide if he would really run for the vice presidency, Romualdez said that he has yet to decide on it adding that he is still preoccupied with his tasks as a congressman.
For one, Congress is busy with several legislative measures like the passing of next year’s national budget and other initiatives to address the raging coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Definitely, I will consider that (running for the Vice President) but for now, our priority focus is on the passage of legislative initiatives needed by this administration to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” Romualdez said.
“We are determined on it.We will pray over it and ask for discernment from our Almighty and our leaders for a possible run for the vice presidency,” he added.
The lawmaker also disclosed that his party, Lakas-CMD, will ‘strengthen’ their political alliance with that of Davao City and presidential daughter, Sara Duterte.
The city mayor is reportedly interested to run for President.
Romualdez also said that for now, he is thinking local, particularly on Leyte’s first congressional district, especially during this time of COVID-19.
During the 2016 elections, he ran but lost for senator. In 2019, he regained his congressional seat temporarily occupied by his wife, Yedda, who is now a party-list representative.
Gov. Petilla vows to continue Leyte’s status as a top rice producer in the region
PALO, Leyte – The province of Leyte will continue to maintain its lead as a rice producer in the region.
Thus said Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla who said that his administration will continue to extend full support to farmers as a way to ensure that the status of the province as a rice producer could be maintained.
The support to farmers includes, among others, the provision of agricultural equipment to supplies needed in rice growing which is under the governor’s More Income in the Countryside (MIC) program.
Gov. Petilla said that the provincial and municipal agricultural technicians are working together in providing the technical support to the rice farmers.
He said that he is optimistic that with the support given by his office to the rice farmers under the banner of MIC, the farmers will become more productive.
Based on the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-8), Leyte was the highest producer in rice production in Eastern Visayas in the 4th quarter of 2020.
Leyte contributed the biggest share in palay production in Eastern Visayas at 148,509 MT during the 4th quarter of 2020.
“It comprised more than half or 54.6 percent of the total palay production in the region. Samar came next with 54,859 MT production, accounting for 20.2 percent of the region’s total palay production,” PSA Regional Director Wilma Perante said.
Perante also reported that palay production in the region has slightly increased by 1.4 percent, from 268,382 metric tons (MT) in the 4th quarter of 2019 to 272,182 MT in the same quarter of 2020.
This is attributed to the minimal or 0.1 percent change in the total area harvested for palay from 72,797 hectares (has.) in the 4th quarter of 2019 to 72,892 has in the same quarter of 2020.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)