Manila Standard - 2021 April 22 - Thursday

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WITH MORE ASSETS FOR PATROLS, ESPERON TELLS PINOYS: GO FISH IN WPS

Story on A4

PGH logs five COVID deaths daily, hospital’s capacity full By Willie Casas and Rio N. Araja

VOL. XXXV • NO. 66 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

ABOUT five COVID-19 patients have died each day at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for the last three weeks, its spokesman Dr. Jonas del Rosario said Wednesday.

At an online briefing, DelRosario also said that 220 out of 250 COVID-19 beds are occupied on a daily basis, which is far worse than the situation last year. “Our ICU units are full. ER beds are Next page

BACK IN BUSINESS. A day after closing to deal with red-tagging problems and safety concerns, the Maginhawa community pantry reopened to long lines of hopefuls (inset) and the help of Task Force Disiplina enforcers from the office of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte. The scene was replicated elsewhere – from up north in Betag, La Trinidad, to the Letran College grounds in Intramuros, and even the San Vicente De Paul Parish located along San Marcelino Street in Ermita, also in Manila (inset photos). Manny Palmero, Norman Cruz and Dave Leprozo

She’s back, and her pantry free goods a day after its operation By Rio N. Araja, Maricel V. Cruz, Willie Casas, stopped because of red-tagging. She said no one could stop her to and Rey E. Requejo

push through with the pantry’s opANA Patricia Non, the organ- eration, citing her intention to help izer of the Maginhawa community those in need was pure. Earlier, Non was forced to close pantry in Quezon City, on Wednesday resumed the distribution of Next page

US warns citizens vs. PH trip Cites high level of virus cases in country; Japan PM Suga cancels visit

By Rey E. Requejo and Willie Casas

T

HE United States has warned its citizens against traveling to the Philippines due to the high level of COVID-19 cases in the country, while the Japanese prime minister called off a visit to Manila following a resurgence of infections in Japan.

“Do not travel to the Philippines due to COVID-19,” the US State Department said in a travel advisory dated April 20. “The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for the Philippines due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country,”

the advisory added. The US government also noted that there are restrictions in place affecting the entry of US citizens to the Philippines. Due to “unprecedented risk to travelers” from the COVID-19 pandemic, the US State Department earlier said it would enhance its “Do Not Travel” guidance to about 80 percent of countries worldwide. Most American citizens have already been advised against traveling

to most parts of Europe due to pandemic restrictions. The US also prohibited the entry of nearly all non-US citizens who have recently been in most of Europe, China, Brazil, Iran and South Africa. Meanwhile, the Japan Times reported that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has called off a planned visit to India and the Philippines, apparently due to a resurgence of coronavirus infections in Japan. Next page

EU clears J&J vax, says blood clots ‘very rare’ By Willie Casas and Julito Rada EUROPE’S medicines regulator said Tuesday that blood clots should be listed as a “very rare” side effect of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, but that the benefits of the shot still outweighed the risks. The United States is expected to announce its decision on the singleshot J&J vaccine by Friday, as nations around the world urgently try to accelerate inoculation campaigns and revive their pandemic-ravaged economies. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) assessment came as an EU official promised to have enough doses available to vaccinate 70 percent of Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM APRIL 21)

962,307 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

9,227 116,434 NEW

ACTIVE

16,265

124

DEATHS

NEW

829,608 19,699 NEW RECOVERIES

QUARANTINE LENGTH FOR OFWS STAYS

Story on A2

STORM ‘BISING’ DEATH TOLL NOW AT 7 Story on A4

Palace directs FDA to stop illegal trading of repacked ivermectin By Vito Barcelo

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has directed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take the lead against the illegal trading or dispensing of ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug for animals but believed to be effective against the coronavirus disease, Mala-

SECOND DOSE.

Senior citizens and medical frontliners get their second dose of Sinovac jabs during the mass vaccination at a mall in Parañaque City on Wednesday. The same scenes played out at the Saint Louis University in Baguio City (bottom photos). Avito Dalan and Dave Leprozo

canang said. The Palace said the President’s order was focused on ivermectin for veterinary use that has been repackaged to mislead the public, and advised the public to consult with doctors first before taking the drug. “What is being ordered to stop is the Next page

Meat importers rush frozen pork order while cheaper tariffs still hold By Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Othel V. Campos

tons of frozen pork from abroad for the next three months to take advantage of cheaper tariffs enforced by Malacañang, an industry group said Wednesday. This was as President Rodrigo Duterte LOCAL meat importers are rushing to book orders of as much as 600,000 metric asked lawmakers to give the tariff cut a

chance to bring down prices of pork, and said he is willing to recall the order once the local supply of meat returns to normal, the Palace said yesterday. Jet Ambalada, director of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors

Inc., said Duterte’s Executive Order 128 and another EO to be issued soon will allow up to 400,000 metric tons of frozen meat to be shipped to the country subject to a 5% duty -- a bargain compared to the Next page


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