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[link_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/03/2117159/doh-walk-vaccinations-should-not-be-allowed
[article_title] => DOH: Walk-in vaccinations should not be allowed
[carousel_alt] => Residents are screened and vital signs are checked for their first jab of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine as part of the vaccine roll out program of the local government at the Ramon Magsaysay High School grounds in Manila on Monday, May 17, 2021.
[carousel_pic] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/vaccine_2021-08-02_22-08-18803_thumbnail.jpg
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[carousel_section] => Headlines
[carousel_section_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines
[carousel_author] => Shiela Crisostomo
[carousel_author_link] => https://www.philstar.com/authors/1746738/shiela-crisostomo
[summary] => To prevent overcrowding, the Department of Health yesterday reminded local government units that walk-ins should not be allowed at vaccination sites.
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[articleID] => 2117156
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[link_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/03/2117156/dti-vows-continuous-supply-basic-goods
[article_title] => DTI vows continuous supply of basic goods
[carousel_alt] => A man works the grocery aisle in file photo.
[carousel_pic] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/grocery_2021-08-02_22-04-52345_thumbnail.jpg
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[carousel_section] => Headlines
[carousel_section_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines
[carousel_author] => Louella Desiderio
[carousel_author_link] => https://www.philstar.com/authors/1473425/louella-desiderio
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[articleID] => 2117150
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[link_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/03/2117150/2022-budget-plan-being-printed
[article_title] => 2022 budget plan being printed
[carousel_alt] => At a press briefing, Roque said Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado was able to submit to the Palace the P5.024-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2022 before he went on medical leave.
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[carousel_section] => Headlines
[carousel_section_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines
[carousel_author] => Helen Flores
[carousel_author_link] => https://www.philstar.com/authors/1804761/helen-flores
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[top_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/03/2117149/no-evidence-response-geared-vs-community-transmission
[top_section] => Headlines
[top_section_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines
[url] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/doh_2021-08-02_21-58-5426_thumbnail.jpg
[thumbnail] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/doh_2021-08-02_21-58-5426_tn.jpg
[alt] => DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire
[title] => ‘No evidence, but response geared vs community transmission’
[top_author] => Sheila Crisostomo
[top_author_link] => https://www.philstar.com/authors/1804896/sheila-crisostomo
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[top_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/03/2117147/palace-hopes-covid-19-cases-slow-down-september
[top_section] => Headlines
[top_section_url] => https://www.philstar.com/headlines
[url] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/cov_2021-08-02_21-55-38414_thumbnail.jpg
[thumbnail] => https://media.philstar.com/photos/2021/08/02/cov_2021-08-02_21-55-38414_tn.jpg
[alt] => Traffic building up on Marcos Highway on Monday morning, Aug. 2, 2021 as new police-manned quarantine control points are set up on boundaries around Metro Manila.
[title] => Palace hopes COVID-19 cases slow down in September
[top_author] => Helen Flores
[top_author_link] => https://www.philstar.com/authors/1804761/helen-flores
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The House of Representatives suspends plenary sessions during the enhanced community quarantine period in Metro Manila from August 6 to 20.
During this period, all meetings will be held via videoconferencing and only Secretariat personnel with extremely essential tasks will be allowed to report physically to the office.
“The threat of this Delta variant is real, as evidenced by the surge in cases in certain regions around the world,” Speaker Lord Allan Velasco says in a statement.
Gymnast Carlos Yulo places fourth in the men's vault finals at the Tokyo Olympics after getting an average score of 14.716.
Yulo scored 14.566 with a 0.1 penalty. He got 14.886 in his second vault.
Penalty was the difference for Yulo in that first attempt. If he didn't incur the penalty, he would've clinched the bronze with a score of 14.766. — with report from Luisa Morales
As of August 1, about 8.36% of the country's 109 million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Total doses administered: 20,863,544
First dose: 11,747,581
Second dose: 9,115,963
[VACCINE ROLLOUT UPDATE: 02 August 2021]
As of 01 August 2021, 6PM, a total of 20,863,544 doses have already been administered. 11,747,581 have received their first doses while 9,115,963 have already gotten the complete protection of the COVID-19 vaccines. pic.twitter.com/KrlZldxo7c
DOH reports 8,167 new coronavirus infections, pushing the Philippines' total to 1,605,762.
Recoveries: 9,095 new; 1,515,054 total
Deaths: 77 new; 28,093 total
Active cases: 8,167 or 3.9% of total
Ngayong 4 PM, Agosto 2, 2021, ang Department of Health ay nakapagtala ng 8,167 na karagdagang kaso ng COVID-19. Samantala ay mayroon namang naitalang 9,095 na gumaling at 77 na pumanaw.
Sa kabuuang bilang ng mga naitalang kaso sa bansa, 3.9% (62,615) ang aktibong kaso, pic.twitter.com/qG4RM6U9ax
Cambodia began a roll out of COVID-19 vaccinations for teenagers in its capital Phnom Penh and three provinces Sunday, with Premier Hun Sen's grandchildren among the first to get the jab.
Several countries in Southeast Asia are currently experiencing a deadly COVI-19 resurgence largely driven by the highly contagious Delta variant, which has set back the region's successes last year in curbing pandemic tolls.
While Cambodia appeared to have escaped the brunt of the virus last year, an outbreak first detected in February has steadily driven up the caseload to nearly 78,000.
On Sunday, the kingdom began vaccinating children between the ages of 12 to 17, starting the campaign in its capital Phnom Penh, as well as in the three hardest-hit provinces of Kandal, Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk.
"The vaccination for children today is a key step to herd immunity in communities," said the Cambodian leader. — AFP
US senators on Sunday finalized a historic, trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal that is expected to be approved within days, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said.
If passed by Congress and signed into law, the bill would pump historic levels of federal funding into fixing US roads, bridges and waterways, ensuring broadband internet for all Americans and expanding clean energy programs.
A bipartisan group "finished writing the text of the infrastructure bill," Schumer told the Senate, which met for an extended weekend session in Washington.
"I believe the Senate can process relevant amendments and pass this bill in a matter of days."
The bill, a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's sweeping domestic agenda, is about 2,700 pages long and provides for $1 trillion in funding. — AFP
New irrigation systems in Camarines Sur will benefit 2,532 farmers tilling 1,963.12 hectares of agricultural land in the province, the National Immigration Administration says.
The projects, inuagurated in late July, include the P26.160-million Pump House and Farm Pond at Tigman- Hinagyanan-Inarihan River Irrigation System (THIRIS) in Calabanga; P14.077-million Punta Diamante Pump Irrigation System in Canaman and the P6.686-million rehabilitated Taisan CIS Dam (Sibagat Small Reservoir Irrigation Project) in Minalabac.
The government should focus on empowering communities towards providing their nutritional needs and not on promoting Golden Rice, a genetically modified rice meant to address Vitamin A Deficency, NGO Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE) says in a release.
SEARICE says the Department of Agriculture's decision to allow the commercialization of Golden Rice was done without proper public constultation. It also says the supposed benefits of the beta carotene in the rice are marginal.
"Before it reaches the table only a marginal concentration of beta-carotene is retained in the grain after milling, storage, washing and cooking. Additionally, for the beta-carotene to be absorbed by the body, as it is fat-soluble, it is dependent on the availability of a whole range food sources to targeted populations experiencing chronic nutrition insecurity," the group says.
It says it would be better to reform food systems to allow communities to plant a variety of crops that will help them address their nutritional needs instead of focusing on one crop.
"Golden Rice is yet another hit-or-miss relying on the benevolent innocence of its proponents. It fails to recognize and intentionally avoids upsetting political and social structures that are the very reasons why food, nutrition and livelihood insecurity persist with the historically neglected agricultural sector and rural communities. We have to redirect state resources to their needs, tackle agrarian reform and create spaces for sustainability and community empowerment," Cid Ryan Manalo, SEARICE program manager for policy, says in the release.
Thousands of anti-lockdown demonstrators defied a court-ordered protest ban on Sunday and gathered in the streets of Berlin, resulting in scuffles with police.
Police said some protesters had "harassed and attacked" officers and ignored roadblocks, disrupting traffic in parts of the German capital.
"They tried to break through the police chain and pull out our colleagues. This led to the use of irritants, batons and physical violence," Berlin police tweeted.
A police spokesman said some 5,000 protesters had turned out. More than 600 were detained. — AFP
Many of the Delta variant patients recorded in the country are unvaccinated, appearing to prove the efficacy of vaccines against variants of concern, Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said yesterday.
A barangay councilor or kagawad in Manila and his cohort were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation on Saturday for allegedly selling vaccine slots to Chinese workers of Philippine offshore gaming operators.
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