Women inmates at the Tacloban city jail receive jabs

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August 14, 2021

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VAXX — INMATES VACCINATED. At least 42 women in- mates at the Tacloban City Jail were inoculated on Thursday (August 12) witnessed by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and his son Raymund. May- or Romualdez was welcomed by jail facility chief, Supt. Manuel Chan.

Part of the mobile vaccination roll-out of the city gov’t

INMATES VACCINATED. At least 42 women in- mates at the Tacloban City Jail were inoculated on Thursday (August 12) witnessed by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and his son Raymund. May- or Romualdez was welcomed by jail facility chief, Supt. Manuel Chan.

TACLOBAN CITY-At least 42 women inmates in a jail facility here were administered with vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Thursday (August 12).
The vaccination among women inmates was part of the mobile vaccination roll-out of the city government under Mayor Alfred Romualdez to ensure that more qualified residents of the city would receive the jabs.
Dr. Joedina Gumagay, chief of hospital of the Tacloban City Hospital who led in the vaccination at the Tacloban City Jail, said that inmates should be given priority in the vaccination drive to ensure that COVID-19 would not spread inside the facility.
“God forbid, if one of them will get the infection, it will be easy and fast for COVID-19 to spread that is why, we have to prioritize them in the vaccination,” she said.
Mayor Romualdez, joined by his son, Raymund, witnessed the vaccination inside the jail facility. The said vaccination is considered to be a first in the region.
It was learned that after the women inmates, who received the Sinovac brand, all the current 591 male inmates at the said jail facility would also be given the vaccine.
This campaign of the city government has the full support of the Department of Health (DOH) which has called all local government units to speed up their vaccination drive amid the presence of several variants of concern across the region cited as among the factors for the spike of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas.
In Ormoc City, more than 50 motorcycle-for-hire (MCH) drivers have received their first doses of AstraZeneca on Friday.
The vaccination was held in one of the shopping malls in the city which also aims to vaccinate more people, especially those considered as economic frontliners.
The city government target to vaccinate 2,400 MCH drivers in Ormoc City.
In Borongan City, the Borongan Cathedral was used as a vaccination site on Thursday which accommodated 560 individuals who received the Moderna vaccine.
The provincial capital of Eastern Samar is grappling with COVID-19 cases as the DOH identified the presence of Delta variant.
The DOH has reported on Friday of 147 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the region’s total cases to 38,059 with active cases of 1,184 and 36,444 considered as recovered cases.
Meantime, a 72-year old man from the town of Inopacan in Leyte province was the latest to die in the region due to COVID-19 complications. The region has now 431 deaths due to COVID-19.(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

Gov. Tan envisions P4 billion business district

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August 14, 2021

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The Samar Business District will create jobs, generate income

CATBALOGAN CITY- An ambitious and multi-billion peso economic district is being envisioned to be established in the city and is aimed to create thousands of employment and provide economic activities.
The Samar Business District (SBD), covering 70 hectares encompassing six barangays of this city, is being pushed by the provincial government in close coordination with the city government.
Governor Reynolds Michael Tan, who is behind this project, says that the proposed SBD is projected to cost P4 billion and is expected to be completed in four year’s time.
“With the (establishment) of the Samar Business District, we envision that Catbalogan City and the rest of the province will become the center of trade and commerce on Samar Island,” he said.
The 70 hectare of land to be used for the establishment of the SBD will involve reclaimed lots from the sea as Catbalogan is lacking of needed space, Tan said.
And this early, the Samar governor dismissed any possible destruction of marine resources saying they are guaranteeing that no marine lives would be affected for this ambitious project.
The detail of the project like its master plan, however, is still under study, Tan said.
But he said that the area of the proposed SBD was chosen as it is here where a tide embankment is being constructed which aim to address the perennial flooding problem of the city.
“We actually chose the location as we just took advantage of the tide embankment project there. And part of the project is the construction of some pumping stations to address any possible flooding incident,” Tan said.
According to Tan, for the project to materialized, they need at least P4 billion of which the governor has yet to divulge where the provincial government will source its funding.
But Gov. Tan did not hide his excitement on the project considering the potential it will result to the people and to the province.
For one, he said, the proposed SBD will result to job generation.
Tan said that they have proposed that for potential locators of the SBD to hire at least 80 percent of their workers from Catbalogan and other parts of the province.
Also, the city government of Catbalogan, in particular, will directly benefit the project in terms of taxes, the governor said.
On Wednesday (August 11), Gov. Tan delivered his state of provincial address (Sopa) held at the grounds of the provincial capitol building, this city coinciding the 180th founding anniversary of Samar.
During his speech, the governor disclosed what his administration has accomplishments and what he intend to do in his remaining years in office.
Among those he mentioned during his Sopa were the construction of roads, particularly, in remote villages which he said resulted to the substantial decrease of the poverty incidence in Samar.
From a high of 41.8 percent in 2015, various interventions created by the provincial government resulted to the reduction of Samar’s poverty incidence to just 22.1 percent in 2019, he said.
“And I hope to further decrease it by another four percent at least,” Tan said.
He also said that insurgency problem in the province is now addressed with former New People’s Army(NPA) members giving up and returning to the folds of the law.
The crime rate in the province has also considerably dropped from 21.9 percent in 2019 to just 10.5 percent last year.
The governor also said that he intend to continue to upgrade and rehabilitate the Samar Provincial Hospital and the six district hospitals in the province with a new one to be constructed in the town of Pinabacdao.
Gov. Tan asked for cooperation not only among officials of the province but for the public for him to accomplish all his ‘dreams for Samar.’

LSDE August 14, 2021 — Gov. Tan envisions P4 billion business district

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August 14, 2021

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LSDE August 14, 2021

DOT-8 holds four-day tourism promotion through online

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August 10, 2021

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With pandemic still raging

TACLOBAN CITY – The regional office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) hosted this year’s 7th Regional Travel Fair (RTF).
This is the first hybrid edition of RTF organized by the Tourism Promotions Board, an attached agency of the tourism department, which aims to sell online discounted domestic tour packages to the consumer or public, and to provide opportunities and innovative ways of developing new business connections and update local industry partners.
Some sellers at the hybrid RTF were at the venue in Summit Hotel, here in the city while the others were at their respective homes with the buyers joining the event from their respective regions.
The participants used a link which gave them access to a portal to meet each other online and do business.
A total of 54 sellers from the region and 85 buyers from other parts of the country participated in the online event held last August 5 to 8 highlighting tourist destinations, accommodation facilities, and other tourism related services that the region offers.
“We want to focus on the diverse product, the richness of your culture, the beauty that everybody of us will have a chance to visit in Eastern Visayas once this pandemic is over, with the offer of your Infinite Escapes,” Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones, TBP chief operating officer, said.
Allones added that the use of hybrid format for RTF introduces sellers and buyers to the concept of using technology in promoting tourism products.
“It is a gift, a tool that we can use, so that we can improve the way we do things, we conduct activities, and hopefully transform communities, and improve lives,” Allones said.
She added that the TPB will also pursue the promotion of Smart Tourism, an effort which they hopes everybody will appreciate.
Secretary Bernadette Puyat, who delivered her message virtually lauded Tiopes on her effort to develop new tourism products for the region.
The secretary added that as the country and whole world is still facing challenges brought by the present pandemic, the DOT, as part of its mandate to ensure safety of tourists in reviving tourism that will help in revitalizing local economy, will continue to ensure “safe travel” to everyone.
“We will pave the way for our tourism to bounce back for the sake of those who defend for their livelihood, and for the tourism community to gradually recover from the adverse impact of this pandemic,” Puyat said.
The four-day activity was highlighted by the hybrid business-to-business (B2B) session, hybrid consumer show, showcasing health and wellness tourism, and presentation to sellers of tourism products from the transport sector, accommodation facilities, and tourism sites and destinations.
Sellers that presented their products during the consumer show included Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines; in travel and tour agencies, Leyte Gulf Travel and Tour, Kamp Kolambu, Gusto Avventura Travel and Tours, Hero Travel Solutions, SMR Travel and Tours, and Budgetmate Travel and Tours.
For accommodation, Hotel XYZ, Caluwayan Palm Island Beach Resort and Restaurant, M Grand Royale, Summit Hotel, Piňa Suites, and NASAKASECO.
Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, and Southern Leyte divers for dive resort; Villa Conzoilo Farm, and Beengo Farm for fun farms; and Samar Community-based Tourism Sites, Leyte Bike Tours, LaraPh, and Eastern Samar Surfing for destinations and tourism products.
Also highlighting the travel fair was the presentation of Eastern Visayas Food Culture dubbed as “Sumsuman ha Tarangka-an” by Chef Mark Reynan Campado Sabayan who prepared sinugba and kinilaw, two of the popular dish found in occasion and drinking session of locals.
After Eastern Visayas, the TPB will conduct another RTF before the end of this year, with Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) as host.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

DOH announces of 7 variants of concern in EV

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August 10, 2021

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Banner — FREE FOOD AND DRINKS. Passengers at the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport in Tacloban City who are fully vaccinated are to receive free foods and drinks. Surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region has prompted the Department of Health for the public to submit themselves to inoculation. (CAAP Area VIII)

Cases of COVID-19 in the region still high

FREE FOOD AND DRINKS. Passengers at the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport in Tacloban City
who are fully vaccinated are to receive free foods and drinks. Surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in
the region has prompted the Department of Health for the public to submit themselves to inoculation.
(CAAP Area VIII)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed that there are now several variants of concern existing here in the region.
The DOH, however, said that it could not explicitly say if the rising cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region could be due to the presence of these variants.
Based on their data, there are now a total of 48 recorded variants of COVID-19 in the region and most of these cases, or 11, were of B.1.1.63 or the HK Linage.
The Delta variant, considered to be most transmissible among the know variants of COVID-19, followed with 10 cases; Beta variant with eight cases; Alpha variant and P.3(VUI),both with seven cases; B.1 with four cases and B.1.1.28 with one case.
The DOH said that the HK Lineage was recorded in Southern Leyte and Tacloban City with three cases each, and provinces of Eastern Samar and Leyte with two cases each.
The Delta variants were confirmed to have exist in the province of Eastern Samar with nine cases and Tacloban City with a single case.
Recorded Beta variants were in the provinces of Samar (3), Eastern Samar (2), and one case each in the provinces of Northern Samar, Biliran, and Tacloban City.
Alpha variant was recorded in the provinces of Northern Samar, and Samar with two cases each, and one case each in the province Eastern Samar, and in the cities of Tacloban and Ormoc.
The P.3 (VUI) was confirmed to have exist in the provinces of Eastern Samar, and Samar and in Ormoc City with two cases each, and one case in Tacloban City.
The B.1 was recorded in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, and Southern Leyte, and in the city of Tacloban while the one case B.1.1.28 was recorded in Samar province.
But despite of the 48 cases with variant of concerns, Roderick Boyd Cerro, regional sentinel nurse, said that based on their findings, there is a low evidence of local transmission of variants of concern in the region.
Cerro said that one of the reasons why they have a low samples submission for genome sequencing is the lack of cooperation of a laboratory which do not give them samples.
There are three COVID-19 laboratory testing centers in the region, two are located in Tacloban City, the Eastern Visayas Regional Covid-19 Testing Center, and Divine Word Hospital Virology Laboratory (DWHVL), and Ormoc Molecular Diagnostic Center (OMDC) in Ormoc City.
To prevent the further spread of COVID-19 cases in other areas that have no recorded variants of concern and cluster of cases, Cerro said that among their recommendations is to intensify contact tracing, collection or testing and submission of samples for genomic sequencing.
Intensifying the implementation of health protocols particularly wearing of face masks, implement circuit breaker lockdown in areas with cluster of cases to make that other villages will not be affected with COVID-19 cases, border control implementation.
“If they are implementing home quarantine, they should be monitored by the barangay health emergency response team,” Cerro said.
As of Monday (August 9), the DOH has said that the region has now 36,992 total cases of COVID-19 of which 35,221 of them have recovered and 1,379 considered as active.