KAKAMMPI News

ABS-CBN News Posted at Feb 17 2021 10:56 PM MANILA - The number of Filipinos abroad who have contracted COVID-19 rose to 14,679 on Wednesday as 7 new cases were recorded, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. The DFA reported 7 new recoveries and no new fatality among COVID-19 cases. This is the fifth consecutive day that there were no reported new fatality. The number of Filipinos currently being treated abroad for the disease is 4,462 as 9,238 of those infected have recovered, while 979 have died. Those undergoing treatment are broken down as follows by region: 805 in the Asia Pacific, 866 in Europe, 2,715 in the Middle East and Africa, and 76 in the Americas. In the Philippines, COVID-19 has so far sickened 553,424 people. The tally includes 11,577 deaths, 512,033 recoveries, and 29,814 active cases. COVID-19 cases in Philippines hit 553,424 with 1,184 new infections The new coronavirus is believed to have first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2...

Reuters Posted at Feb 18 2021 09:12 AM Nearly 5,000 Hong Kong citizens have applied for visas to live, work and study in the United Kingdom since changes that make it easier for people in the Asian financial hub to be granted entry, The Times newspaper reported. Britain changed its visa application program in late January, allowing Hong Kong residents who hold a British National Overseas (BNO) passport to live in the UK for five years and eventually apply for citizenship. Britain made the visa changes after Beijing's imposition of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong last year. China and Hong Kong have said they will no longer recognize the BNO passport as a valid travel document from Jan. 31. BNO status was created by Britain in 1987 specifically for Hong Kong residents. About half of the 5,000 applications received were from Hongkongers who were already in Britain, The Times reported, citing sources. Those people had already been offered temporary settlement i...

Reuters Posted at Feb 17 2021 03:28 PM A nurse fills a syringe with a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, as the COVID-19 outbreak continues, at Enfermera Isabel Zendal new pandemic hospital in Madrid, Spain, Feb. 4, 2021. Sergio Perez, Reuters/File TAIPEI - A deal for Taiwan to buy 5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech SE is on hold, the island's health minister said on Wednesday, citing potential Chinese pressure for the delay. Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said officials were on the verge of announcing the deal in December when BioNTech pulled the plug. While he did not directly say China was to blame, Chen implied there was a political dimension to the decision and that he had been worried about "outside forces intervening," hence his caution in discussing the planned deal publicly. "Certain people don't want Taiwan to be too happy," he added, without elaborating, in a radio interview. ...

Published February 16, 2021 12:04pm A total of 139 Filipinos from Myanmar returned to the country Monday night amid the current COVID-19 travel restrictions and recent political situation there. advertisement Among those repatriated were 11 dependent children and four dependent parents, including two senior citizens, of the Filipinos who worked as professionals in Myanmar and whose contracts were seriously affected by the COVID-19 restrictions in the country. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. were among those who welcomed the arrival of the repatriates at the NAIA Terminal 3. “This is a testament to our government's steadfast commitment to assisting our people across the globe. We at the DFA are doing our best to do just that by bringing our people home amid the pandemic,” he said. The Air Asia special flight, chartered by the Philippine government, arrived at past 6 p.m.. This was the second DFA-chartered flight from Yangon, while 12 other special flights were fac...

Published February 18, 2021 11:42am Updated February 18, 2021 12:09pm By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News Majority of the mayors in Metro Manila on Wednesday night voted in favor of putting the region under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in March, Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco said Thursday. advertisement In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Tiangco said nine mayors voted for MGCQ, the loosest quarantine classification, while eight voted for general community quarantine (GCQ) during the meeting on Wednesday night. "Ang total ng GCQ is eight, ang total ng MGCQ is nine," he said. Tiangco said the mayors chose between MGCQ and GCQ but both classifications will allow only people aged 15 to 65 years to go outside their homes. The result of the voting will be the official position of the Metro Manila Council that will be submitted to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which will then make the recommendation to President Rodrigo Duterte for h...

Kyodo News Posted at Feb 10 2021 09:31 PM Experts from the World Health Organization on Wednesday started to leave the central Chinese city of Wuhan for home after they completed an investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus. Ken Maeda, a member of the WHO team and veterinary microbiologist at Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, told Kyodo News at Wuhan airport, "We were able to conduct an adequate probe with the cooperation of the Chinese side." As a result of the investigation, the WHO group rejected a theory, advanced by the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, that the virus was accidentally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But the WHO team failed to clarify how the outbreak erupted in Wuhan in late 2019 and to identify how bats, believed to be the main natural host of the virus, passed it via other animals to humans. After quarantining for two weeks, the WHO experts began a full-fledged probe in late Janu...

Published February 1, 2021 3:05pm Updated February 1, 2021 3:31pm By MA. ANGELICA GARCIA, GMA News A female overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in United Arab Emirates who had been missing since March last year was found dead, the Department of Labor and Employment said Monday. advertisement In a virtual press conference, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Mary Anne Daynolo’s remains had already been repatriated back to the country. He said the National Bureau of Investigation will conduct an autopsy on the body as requested by the OFW's family. Bello said Daynolo’s remains were found in January after an Ugandan suspect admitted killing her. The suspect led authorities to the area where Daynolo's remains were exhumed. “Itong January lang, may nakitang advanced stage of decomposition na labi ng isang tao na sa tingin nila ay labi ni Mary Anne Daynolo,” he said. “Mabuti naman sa pagsisiyasat ng mga police authorities sa Abu Dhabi ay natunton nila itong isang Ugandan at sig...

Published February 10, 2021 8:00am By JOJO DASS DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A jobless overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who spent her 10-year savings on a milk tea store that opened last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has managed to pull through despite the odds. Not only was Vin Jimenez was able to open a second store, she is already planning on opening a third one by the end of the year. Jimenez, who hails from Angeles City in Pampanga, said she and her husband were also planning to open franchising opportunities by April 2021. “The business went smoothly until the most challenging part came when the government announced a temporary closure of the Dubai Metro due to pandemic,” recalled Jimenez of the milk tea business’ initial days. The milk tea store, named Joy Bubble, opened on March 12, 2020 in Al Qusais, an area in the outskirts of north Dubai. On April 4, 2020, the government put strict quarantine measures in place. “It prevented our employees from reporting to work; a...

Published February 8, 2021 10:35am The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is calling on overseas voters to participate in the test run of internet voting, one of the measures being considered amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly being encouraged to sign up for the test run are registered overseas voters who have active and complete voter registration record. "Their registration status must be active, which means that it must not have been deactivated for failure to vote in the two previous elections in 2016 and 2019," the Comelec said in a statement on Monday. Interested participants should also have complete biometrics data, including photograph, fingerprints and signature. To participate in the test run, a voter must have a smartphone capabile of running Android or iOS apps, a laptop or a personal computer, or any mobile device with internet/data access. Interested voters can sign up through a form posted on the Facebook page of Comelec's Office for Overseas ...

Published February 7, 2021 9:02pm A Filipino man needed almost 100 stitches on his face after he was slashed by another passenger on the New York City subway. According to a Sunday 24 Oras Weekend report, 61-year-old Noel Quintana, who is based in New York, was on the subway when he noticed that his bag was being kicked by another man. When he confronted the "kicker," the suspect suddenly pulled out a box cutter and slashed Quintana's face. No one came to the Filipino's assistance. The attack was recorded on CCTV, but no further details were immediately available. The attack was recorded on CCTV, but no further details were immediately available. Quintana was also reported to have been mugged in a prior incident when he alighted the subway at a Manhattan station last year. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News