In the week through Sept. 18, new COVID infections nationwide averaged 20,218 daily.

President Duterte will join the high-level general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held this week and is expected to push for universal access to COVID-19 vaccines and the welfare of migrant workers.

Some 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted primarily due to “temperature excursion,” the Department of Health said yesterday.

Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion is pushing for a shorter quarantine period for fully vaccinated travelers from North America to encourage them to celebrate Christmas with their family and relatives in the Philippines.

The P12 billion paid by the government to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. to deliver COVID-19 supplies could have fed at least 1.6 million poor Filipinos or could have obviated the need to secure loans from China to fund a dam project, Sen. Richard Gordon said.