KAKAMMPI News

(Agence France-Presse) - December 18, 2020 - 8:53am PARIS — Roughly a year into the pandemic it is clear the new coronavirus is worse than seasonal flu, and a study released on Friday outlined just how much worse, showing a death rate almost three times higher among COVID-19 patients. The research, using French national data and published in the journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, underscored the increased severity of illness for people with COVID-19. Researchers compared data for 89,530 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in March and April this year with 45,819 patients hospitalized with seasonal influenza between December 2018 and the end of February 2019. Some 16.9% of COVID-19 patients died during the period of study — which was during a devastating first wave across Europe when doctors had few therapies to turn to for severely ill people. This compares to a death rate of 5.8% among those with influenza. Catherine Quantin, a professor at the University Hospital of D...

(Agence France-Presse) - December 20, 2020 - 11:43pm LONDON — European countries banned flights from the UK on Sunday and the WHO called for stronger containment measures as the British government warned that a potent new strain of the virus was "out of control". As the World Health Organization urged its European members to strengthen measures against a new variant of Covid-19 circulating in Britain, the Netherlands imposed a ban on UK flights from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) on Sunday and Belgium said it would follow suit from midnight with ban on planes and trains from the UK. Alarm bells were ringing across Europe -- which last week became the first region in the world to pass 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic broke out a year ago -- after it appeared that a new, even more infectious strain of the virus was raging in parts of Britain. Germany, too, was considering a similar move as "a serious option" for flights from both Britain and South Africa, where...

Reuters Posted at Dec 20 2020 08:55 AM KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia said on Saturday it has secured coronavirus vaccine from AstraZeneca PLC, on the heels of news it will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in February as it grapples with a surge in infections. The AstraZeneca deal, to be signed on Monday, will allow immunization of about 20% of Malaysia's population of 32 million, similar to that of the deal with U.S. giant Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE, said Health Minister Adham Baba. The Southeast Asian nation has seen a spike in cases since September, with nearly 92,000 cases of the new coronavirus and 433 COVID-19 deaths. Malaysia expects to receive enough vaccines to inoculate 10% of the population through the global COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization, he said in a statement. The government is working to secure more deals to expand inoculation to 70% of the population, Adham said. "What is important is which company can provide us q...

ABS-CBN News Posted at Dec 19 2020 07:05 PM Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with staff at a hospital in Ottawa, Canada, on Tuesday after the first Civic Hospital vaccination session. Blair Gable, Reuters Canada is ready to distribute excess doses of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine for other countries once their residents are vaccinated, according to their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada's vaccination campaign is in full swing this week. They aim to ensure that all of their 38 million residents are vaccinated. "As Canada gets vaccinated, if we have more vaccines than necessary, we will absolutely be sharing with the world," Trudeau said in a CTV interview that will be aired on Sunday. On Friday, Trudeau said they will get 125,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine per week, equivalent to 500,000 doses per month by January. Canada is also expected to receive 200,000 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vacccine next week, and 168,000 doses of Moderna...

Published December 17, 2020 1:28pm Around 80,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are expected to return to the country within the first half of 2021, a government official said Thursday. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Hans Leo Cacdac disclosed the figure during the Laging Handa briefing as the government had already brought home some 370,000 OFWs since the repatriation efforts started early this year. Cacdac also said 420,000 OFWs have so far benefited from the one-time P10,000 or $200 cash aid from the government. “Patuloy lang po ang ating pagpi-payout sa ngayon and hopefully by year’s end ay magkakaroon ng ganap na payout doon sa mga beneficiaries natin, pati doon sa mga padating pa,” he said. The distribution of cash assistance was mandated by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act. —Virgil Lopez/KBK, GMA News

Karen Lema, Reuters Posted at Dec 21 2020 03:57 PM MANILA - The Philippines expects to receive 30 million doses of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine by July next year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Monday, boosting the country's effort to secure supplies to inoculate more than 100 million people. Despite consultations with numerous vaccine makers, the Philippines has so far signed only one supply deal, with the help of its private sector, to acquire 2.6 million shots of a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca. It plans to buy 25 million doses of a vaccine from China's Sinovac Biotech for delivery by March, and aims to secure between four and 25 million doses of vaccines from Moderna and Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. "Thirty million dosages of the Indian-made Novavax vaccines are assured possibly with no cash advance. It will be available by July 2021," Locsin said in an interview with CNN Philippines. He said the information came from S...

ABS-CBN News Posted at Dec 21 2020 01:14 PM MANILA - The killing of an unarmed mother and her son at the hands of a policeman in Tarlac is an "isolated" case, the Philippine National Police said Monday as it condemned the incident. Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank Anthony were shot dead Sunday by their neighbor Police Senior Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca after an altercation in Paniqui town. The PNP assures the victims' family that it "does not and will never condone any criminal act of our police officers," said its chief Gen. Debold Sinas. "The PNP considers this as an isolated involvement of the person of PSSg (Nuezca). In no way will such incident affect the sworn duty of the 221,000 police personnel to serve and protect our people," he said in a statement. "Again, let me express my sincere condolences to the family of the victims, and I am extending to them any form of assistance within my power as chief PNP to appease their emotions in this...