Palace confident of mask-free Christmas this year

Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday expressed optimism that Filipinos can ditch anti-virus masks in some public areas by Christmas this year, as the COVID-19 vaccination drive ramps up. Molecular biologist Fr. Nicanor Austriaco Jr., OP, in a Palace briefing, said Metro Manila and 8 focus areas could achieve COVID-19 containment by October, and herd immunity in November. "Kaya po 'yan," said Palace spokesman Harry Roque. "Kaya nga po we are aiming for population protection, 'yong containment na sinasabi ni Fr. Austriaco, kasi alam na natin na sa mga bansang nakamit na nila 'yong containment, hindi na sila nagmamaskara, at least sa outdoors," he said in the same briefing. (That is achievable. We are aiming for population protection, or containment as Fr. Austriaco put it, because we know that countries which have achieved containment no longer mask up, at least outdoors.) Israel and parts of the US, among others, have contained their COVID-19 outbreaks, Roque noted. "That's what we are aiming for--tama po si Fr. Austriaco--a mask-less Christmas," he added. (Fr. Austriaco is right.) "NCR Plus 8" includes Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal. "When we build herd immunity in the NCR Plus 8, we will protect the rest of the country because surges always begin in the NCR Plus 8," said Austriaco, who is a professor of biology and theology at Providence Colleges in the US. An area achieves "containment" once it has vaccinated about 40 to 50 percent of its population. This allows the attack rate or the proportion of people who become ill with a disease to drop to 1 in 100,000, he said. Containment protects against future surges, allows further reopening of the economy, and permits the non-wearing of masks in gatherings among vaccinated people, Austriaco said. Meanwhile, herd immunity protects the unvaccinated and will allow a return to the "old normal", he said. This happens when 70 to 80 percent of a population is vaccinated, and the COVID-19 attack rate is near zero, added Austriaco. The containment and herd immunity timeline is possible in November if NCR Plus 8 rolls out some 250,000 vaccinations daily, he said. "This is a realistic and attainable goal for all of us. We have to imagine, as a country, a no-mask Christmas," said the scientist-priest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more