122320 - Southern California Midweek Edition

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December 23-25, 2020 Volume 30 - No. 101 • 2 Sections - 16 Pages

DATELINE USA FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

PH Consulate in LA closed until Jan. 2021 due to at least 1 COVID case among staff THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles will temporarily shut down operations for the rest of the year following at least one confirmed COVID-19 case among its personnel. The Consulate General will shut down operations until January 3, 2021, it said in a public notice on Saturday, December 21. This update comes after the Consulate previously announced it would shut down until

LA County surpasses 600K virus cases heading into holiday week Places of worship permitted to hold modified indoor services by AJPRESS DAYS before Christmas, Los Angeles County reached another grim milestone of hitting over 600,000 positive cases since the pandemic began.

Based on the new total, more than 100,000 new cases alone were reported since December 11, when the county had reached the 500,000 mark. The County Department of Public Health has identified 623,670 positive cases of COVID-19 across all ar-

Fil-Am groups host blood, bone marrow donor registration drive in Historic Filipinotown

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4 more Filipinos abroad infected with COVID-19, total now at 12,627 — DFA

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IN the spirit of giving and bayanihan, Filipino American organizations on Thursday, December 17 held a blood donation and bone marrow registration drive in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown for a Fil-Am who was diagnosed with leukemia. Kalayaan Incorporated, in cooperation with the Long Beach Bacolod Association, held the drive with the City of Hope at the Los Angeles Downtown Medical Center

eas of LA County and a total of 8,875 deaths as of this writing, after it confirmed 58 new deaths and 13,315 additional cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, December 20.

by DARRYL JOHN

ESGUERRA

Inquirer.net

VIRTUAL SIMBANG GABI. A cellphone streams a mass from a chapel in Quezon City. Catholic faithful restrained by poor health from physically attending Simbang Gabi may join the dawn mass on-line in the comfort of their homes, Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said. Pabillo said virtual Simbang Gabi would enable the elderly, the sick, as well as minors to join the traditional dawn mass, as restrictions on public gatherings remain due to the continuously rising cases of COVID-19. Philstar.com photo by Michael Varcas

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday, December 20 said four more Filipinos abroad, specifically from the Americas, were infected with COVID-19. The new cases bring the total coronavirus case count among overseas Filipinos to 12,627, according to DFA’s daily case bulletin. Over 64% or 8,127 of the total cases are recoveries while active cases account for over 28% or 3,634. The remaining 866 cases resulted in deaths. A total of 2,405 of the active cases or those currently recovering are from the Middle East and Africa, 798 from Asia and the Pacific region, 370 from Europe, and 61 from the Americas.

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Pandemic-related paid sick days and leave to expire Dec. 31 — with no extension in sight by STEVEN

FINDLAY Kaiser Health News

Fil-Am groups joined City of Hope at the Los Angeles Downtown Medical Center (LADMC) in Historic Filipinotown for a blood donation and bone marrow registration drive to find a donor for Freddie Verzosa, a Fil-Am LA County employee who was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Contributed photo

LIKE tens of millions of other parents nationwide, Jonathan and Sara Sadowski struggle to assist their four children, ages 5 to 11, with their online schooling at home. In addition, their eldest child, who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, needs special care. So to help the kids and keep them safe — especially their oldest child — Jonathan opted to take 12 weeks of paid leave from his teaching job under a program authorized by an emergency federal law enacted in March. “Qualifying for paid leave was a huge relief and has worked out really well,” said

Jonathan, who lives in Concord, New Hampshire. But the family has learned about a new wrinkle: The 11-year old needs surgery in January. The operation is expected to require a month or two of recovery. Unfortunately, Jonathan’s leave will be used up by then; what’s more, the emergency federal paid leave program it is based on lapses Dec. 31. Unions and workers’ rights and consumer advocacy groups are this week waging a lastditch effort to get Congress to extend the program into 2021. They argue that the program is a critical component helping to prevent the spread of the virus and providing financial assistance to struggling families. Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. with U.S. Secretary of State Michael

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Tagle assures faithful: Christmas coming to town by ROBERTZON

RAMIREZ

Philstar.com

MANILA — From Rome, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urged the Catholic faithful to believe that “Christmas is coming to town” and it “will save us” amid all the suffering and hardships that have been weighing people down. In a short video message posted on Facebook, the former Manila archbishop said some people have started to question why it does not feel like Christmas amid the scourge of natural disasters and the COVID19 pandemic. “My dear friends, Christmas is here. But I think some people won’t agree with me. Some are even asking this question: Tuloy ba ang pasko (Is Christmas coming)? It

doesn’t feel like Christmas. Christmas is not coming to town, and so they tried everything within their means and power to save Christmas,” he said. Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said people should remember the true reason for the season is the birth of Jesus Christ and not the Christmas that they are used to celebrate with lavish parties, exchange gifts and visiting malls. “Tuloy ba ang Pasko? My answer is a resounding yes. Let us welcome the true Christmas,” he said. Tagle said the Christmas celebrations people are accustomed to have many good elements, but referred to them as “the ChristIn a short video message posted on Facebook, the former mas of our own making” which many are try- Manila archbishop said some people have started to question ing to save. why it does not feel like Christmas amid the scourge of natural

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disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philstar.com photo

Pompeo

U.S. Department of State file photo

Locsin seeks Pompeo help to secure vaccines by JANVIC

MATEO Philstar.com

MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to help the Philippines secure some of the vaccines that were part of the supposed missed deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. “Great phone conversation with Mike Pompeo last night. Lotsa laughs at others,” Locsin tweeted on Saturday, December 19. “But on the most serious note I

asked him to help Babe and I get back even a fraction of the 10 million doses of Pfizer after someone dropped the ball. He’ll give it his best try,” he added. Babe is Philippine ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez, with whom Locsin earlier said he worked to secure the delivery of 10 million doses of Pfizer vaccines as early as next month. But last week, the secretary said “someone dropped the ball,” leading to the cancellation of the delivery.

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