NEARLY 300 new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported on Thursday by the Department of Health, together with 10 more fatalities and 20 new recoveries.
Based on the latest bulletin, the DOH said confirmed cases now total 8,488, including 568 deaths. The number of recovered patients is now at 1,043.
Among COVID-19 patients, 1,619 are healthcare workers. They include 604 nurses, 557 physicians, 99 nursing assistants, 63 medical technologists, 31 radiologic technologists, 18 midwives, 17 respiratory therapists, and 13 pharmacists. Another 217 healthcare workers afflicted with COVID-19 are barangay health workers, administrative aides, and utility workers, among others.
Thirty-three healthcare workers, meanwhile, died from COVID-19, including 24 physicians and seven nurses.
Also among COVID-19-hit healthcare workers, 250 have recovered.
The disease caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus originated in China and has spread to 213 countries since emerged late last year. As of April 29, it has infected 3,024,059 person and killed 208,112, according to the World Health Organization.
In the Western Pacific Region, the Philippines ranks fifth among countries with COVID-19 after China, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea.
INFANTS
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said 25 infants have been hit by COVID-19.
The youngest is a nine-day-old from Central Visayas (Region 7), she said.
Of the 25, two have died while the rest have recovered.
Vergeire said health experts have yet to determine if the virus can be transmitted directly by mothers to their infants.
“There is no evidence yet that shows we can transmit this disease vertically, or from mother-to-child while it is still inside the womb,” she said.
“Most of these cases, apparently, are acquired likely after the birth of the child,” she added.
VETERANS
Philippine Veterans Affairs Office administrator Ernesto Carolina said 67 veterans and dependents were infected with COVID-19.
Seventeen have died, and most of them are between 70 and 80 years old, he said citing a report from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center director, Dr. Dominador Chiong Jr.
Of the 50 surviving, 48 “are already okay” while the two others “are fighting it out and being closely monitored,” Carolina said.
Carolina said the oldest fatality is an 88-year-old World War II veteran.
“Six of the patients who died were undergoing dialysis, two had terminal cancer and the rest had co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes, (are) immuno-compromised, chronic renal and heart failure,” said Carolina.
Manuel Pamaran, chief of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines, urged veterans to “close ranks and start looking after one another more closely, in the spirit of true brotherhood and camaraderie.”
AVIGAN TRIALS
After joining WHO efforts to develop a vaccine and find a cure for COVID-19, the Philippines is also set to participate in Japan’s clinical trials of the anti-flu drug Avigan as treatment for COVID-19.
“This clinical trial is being launched by the Japanese government and is being done in collaboration with other countries in a bid to gain information on Avigan, much like the WHO Solidarity Trial,” said Vergeire.
“We are currently studying the protocol with the Philippine General Hospital for the forthcoming launch of the trial to make sure that we will be using the right process,” she added.
She said the Philippines has expressed in participating in the clinical trials and is just awaiting official word from Japan “if the Philippines is among the first batch of countries to receive this medicine for influenza.”
Vergeire said the DOH is also closely monitoring a study to be conducted in France regarding the potential of nicotine patches to combat the disease.
“We will await data on this matter and we will immediately refer this study to our experts,” said Vergeire.
Reports said studies show smokers are 80 percent less likely to get COVID-19 than non-smokers of the same age and sex. This prompted French researchers to initiate a human trial as to whether wearing nicotine patches can help individuals become more resistant to the virus or not.
FILIPINOS ABROAD
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 33 more Filipinos abroad were infected with the novel coronavirus while two new deaths and 17 recoveries were also reported.
With the 33 new cases, the DFA said there are now 1, 677 Filipinos in
46 countries who were infected with COVID-19 with 1,025 of them still
undergoing treatment while 451 have recovered and 201 have died.
Two Filipino workers in Kuwait have died of COVID-19 while 49 others have tested positive as the Philippine Embassy struggles to provide assistance for thousands who have lost their jobs as businesses stopped operating.
Chargé d’affaires Charleson Hermosura, said in an interview at the “Laging Handa” briefing the impact of the pandemic in Kuwait meant Filipino workers previously employed in restaurants, shops and other businesses that have closed have fallen on hard times.
“Kuwait was not spared from the economic downturn due to this COVID-19. The number of our displaced OFWs here increased because many of them were hired on a no-work, no-pay basis,” Hermosura said.
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait was deluged with 18,515 applicants for cash grants under the Department of Labor and Employment’s AKAP assistance program of which only 3,618 have been approved.
The office had to cope with the Kuwaiti government’s restrictions against crowding as OFWs file their applications and requests for updates.
The embassy conducted its own food drive last April 5, which enabled it to distribute 14,000 food packs with the help of the Filipino community even in areas where lockdown was in effect.
Hermosura said as early as March 25, there were 253 Filipino workers who availed of the Kuwait government’s amnesty program have been assisted on their flights home. These included those who were detained in the Central Jail and the Immigration Holding Center for being undocumented aliens.
As of April 7, an additional 2,107 undocumented Filipinos have been repatriated under the same amnesty program. — With Victor Reyes, Ashzel Hachero and Peter Tabingo
