Nasa hanggang 4,000 Pinoy di makaalis pa-Hong Kong: grupo

Tinatayang nasa hanggang 4,000 na Pilipinong nakatakdang pumunta ng Hong Kong para magtrabaho ang hindi makaalis ng bansa dahil sa isyu ng COVID-19 vaccination card, sabi ngayong Linggo ng isang grupo.

Ayon kay Bayan Hong Kong and Macau Chairman Eman Villanueva, nasa 3,500 hanggang 4,000 Filipino na magtatrabaho sana sa Hong Kong ang stranded sa Maynila at patuloy na nababaon sa utang.

Ito'y sa gitna ng patuloy na pag-uusap ng mga pamahalaan ng Pilipinas at Hong Kong kaugnay sa vaccination card ng mga Pinoy.

Ipinaliwanag ni Villanueva na kasama kasi ang Pilipinas sa mga itinuturing na "high-risk country" ng Hong Kong para sa COVID-19, kaya ang mga fully vaccinated na Pinoy lang ang puwedeng makapasok ng teritoryo.

Kung binakunahan sa Pilipinas, dapat umanong makapagpresenta ang Pinoy ng vaccination record na kinikilala ng World Health Organization.

Ayon kay Villanueva, marami sa mga stranded na pa-Hong Kong ang hindi na bumalik ng probinsiya dahil umaasang agad na silang makakaalis.

Ang ilan sa mga Pinoy ay nangangambang mawalan ng trabaho dahil hindi na sila mahintay ng kanilang employer sa Hong Kong.

Marami rin umanong Pinoy sa Hong Kong ang hindi makauwi sa bansa dahil sa quarantine restrictions at nauubos na rin ang naipong pera.

Umapela si Villanueva sa gobyerno na tulungan ang mga stranded na Pinoy.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/15/21/hanggang-4000-pinoy-di-makaalis-pa-hong-kong

#IbalikangABSCBN: ASAP is making a comeback

the longest running Sunday noontime variety show ASAP aired on ABS-CBN, simulcast with A23, hosted by hosted by Martin Nievera, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Piolo Pascual, Daniel Padilla, Gary Valenciano, Sarah Geronimo, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Erik Santos, Luis Manzano, Kim Chiu, Enchong Dee and Janine Gutierrez.

Nurses' group discourages health workers' mass resignation

 The Philippine Nurses Association said Sunday it does not encourage health workers' plan to hold mass resignations but cannot blame them should they do so as COVID-19 cases rise across the country.

The group sympathizes with medical frontliners who have yet to receive their benefits that the government promised them, said PNA national president Melbert Reyes.

"As much a possible, we don’t encourage them na gawin yan kasi ang maaapektuhan po ang pasyente, yung beneficiary ng care ng ating healthcare workers," Reyes told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

(As much a possible, we don’t encourage them to do that because patients will be affected.)

"Pero di natin sila masisisi kung gagawin nila 'yan sapagkat ang pagpapahalaga at malasakit na binibigay ng gobyerno ay hindi talaga nila nararamdaman."

(But we can't blame them because they can't feel appreciation and care from government.)

Some health workers in private hospitals have yet to receive their special risk allowances or hazard pay, according to Reyes.

Around 40 percent of private hospital nurses have quit their jobs, he added, citing data from the Private Hospitals Association Philippines.

"Sana po, matingnan natin ang sistema ng implementation. Wala naman po siguro magrereklamo kung natatanggap nang maayos," he said.

(I hope government will look at its system of implementation. No one will complain if everyone gets their benefits.)

"Naniniwala pa rin po ako na ang ating health workers ay pinalaki na merong nag-aalab ng apoy para sa serbisyo. Nasasabi nila 'yan dahil marami silang pinagdadaanan."

(I believe our health workers were raised with a passion for service. They are just saying this because they're facing many difficulties.)

Health workers would also like to get a booster COVID-19 jab, Reyes added as many of them were inoculated with Chinese vaccine Sinovac which has shown decreased antibodies after 6 months.

The government has yet to authorize booster COVID-19 shots.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/15/21/group-discourages-health-workers-mass-resignation

Enrollment in public schools starts August 16: DepEd

 Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News

Millions of public school students can start registering for the next school year on Monday, August 16, the Department of Education has said.

Enrollment for the upcoming school year will be done remotely in areas under enhanced community quarantine and modified enhanced community quarantine, the DepEd said in Order No. 32, which sets guidelines for the enrollment period.

Under remote enrollment, parents will be contacted by the school but they can also reach out to teachers, the department said.

Parents and guardians may physically submit the Modified Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (MLESF) in schools in areas under general community quarantine and modified general community quarantine, the DepEd said.

It added that schools may also implement drop box enrollment, under which parents would submit accomplished MLESF in drop boxes or booths "in front of the school gate, in front of the barangay halls and other strategic locations."

The agency said it also preferred teachers and non-teaching personnel who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to manage enrollment.

Parents of incoming kindergarten and Grades 7 and 11 students — grade levels that underwent early registration earlier this year — must "re-affirm their intent to enroll their children to a school of their choice via digital and/or physical enrollment platforms established by schools."

Learners planning to transfer from one school to another, meanwhile, must contact the receiving school through its published enrollment contact details.

"[The] previous adviser is no longer required to facilitate submission of MLESF of learner that is about to transfer to another school," the DepEd said.

Balik-Aral learners, or those who will resume their studies after dropping out, are instructed to directly contact their preferred schools for enrollment.

The education department also advised those enrolling under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) to "communicate their intent to enroll via digital and/or physical enrollment platforms established by schools and barangays with community learning centers."

The enrollment period will end on September 13, also the first day of classes, the DepEd said.

For the upcoming academic year, schools will be implementing distance learning again as in-person classes remain indefinitely banned due to the continued threat of COVID-19.

Private schools have been allowed to start classes as early as June.

Last year, more than 24 million students enrolled in basic education when classes began on October 5, down by 3 million compared to the total number of enrollees from the previous year.

By January, the number of enrollees for School Year (SY) 2020 to 2021 went up to over 26.6 million or 96 percent from the previous SY, according to the DepEd, which attributed the increase to the ALS.

"[The] big reduction is on ALS but enrollment is still increasing because everyday is an enrollment day for ALS learners," the DepEd said.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/15/21/public-school-enrollment-starts-aug-16-deped

PGH will temporarily not accept non-COVID cases: official

(UPDATE) - The Philippines' largest COVID-19 referral center will temporarily stop accepting sick people who are not infected with the coronavirus, its spokesman said Sunday.

The Philippine General Hospital so far has 262 virus patients out of its 250 bed capacity, according to Dr. Jonas del Rosario. The hospital has added 50 more beds to its COVID-19 ward, he said.

Only non-COVID "true emergencies" or "life-and-limb threatening non-COVID emergencies" such as trauma, heart attacks, or massive stroke will be accepted by PGH, he added.

"Dahil sa dumaraming bilang ng mga COVID patients, kinakailangang magbukas kami ng karagdagang lugar para sa mga ito," the government facility said in a public advisory posted on its social media account on Saturday.

(Due to the increasing number of COVID patients, we need to open some sections in the hospital for them.)

"Subalit, upang mapagtuunang mabuti ang pag-alaga sa mga may COVID, kami ay pansamantalang hindi muna tatanggap ng mga pasyenteng may ibang medikal na karamdaman na wala namang COVID," it added.

(To be able to attend to COVID patients, we will temporarily stop accepting patients without COVID.)

The hospital's adult intensive care unit with 40 beds is already full, Del Rosario said. Some 90 percent of patients occupying the ICU are unvaccinated, he added.

"Ang isang napansin namin, maliban sa vaccination status, talagang malaking bagay ang comorbidity mo, tsaka yung age," he said.

(What we've observed is aside from vaccination status, a person's comorbidity and age affects the severity of their illness.)

The 12-bed pedia COVID-19 ward meantime has 8 patients, with 4 more patients waiting to be admitted, according to Del Rosario.

"Ang maganda naman po, kahit nagiging severe o critical ang mga bata, majority po talagang nakaka-recover. It might take a longer time," he said.

(The good news is even if children become severe or critical, majority of them recover.)

The hospital has a 16 percent mortality rate for COVID patients as it receives severe to critical patients as an end-referral hospital, according to Del Rosario. It has a daily average of 3 to 4 deaths over the last 7 days, he said.

The PGH has a 6 percent mortality rate for child virus patients, he added.

All out-patient services of the hospital will be closed starting Monday, August 16, until further notice, in observance of the enhanced community quarantine and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, it said in a separate notice.

The hospital's Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Cancer Institute will remain open, it added.

"Patients are encouraged to do telemedicine consultation," the PGH said.

The facility asked for public understanding on its decision and said it will promptly advise if the number of COVID-19 cases eases.

Of the 262 COVID-19 patients confined in the hospital, as of Saturday, 260 are confirmed cases, one is probable, and another one is suspected.

At the start of the month, it only had 143 confined COVID-19 patients, including one probable case. 

The Philippines has detected the more virulent COVID-19 Delta variant which was first detected in India.

More than 12.1 million individuals in the country are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, data from government showed.

- reports from Jekki Pascual and Gillan Ropero, ABS-CBN News

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/15/21/pgh-will-temporarily-not-accept-non-covid-cases

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