COVID-19 drug in the US is a political drug

The Filipino community comprises 1% of the US population. However, one report noted that the Filipino frontliners in all US hospitals and clinics comprise 7% of the total. In that CBS morning interview, I was proud to learn about how Filipino healthcare workers have helped America’s Covid-19 problems. Yet they all suffer from discrimination due to the ignorance of many Americans, blacks or whites. If only they studied American history, they would have learned that Filipinos manned Spanish galleons long before America fought for independence. So the earliest Filipinos arrived in America long before the US was an independent nation.

In another news, it seemed that a group of doctors from Houston, Texas led by black Dr. Stella Immanuel, one of the doctors in a viral video that was retweeted by President Trump before being scrubbed from major social media sites, is doubling down on her claims about the use of hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment, in an exclusive interview with NBC Houston. You should watch her video where she is surrounded by doctors agreeing to her use of this drug.

What is crystal clear here is that hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) has become political, simply because it was first officially announced by President Trump. Hence, almost all US dailies that hate Trump attacked the use of this drug and this is why Stella Immanuel came out with a viral video, demanding even from CNN medical expert, Dr. Sunjay Gupta, to give them a research of why he was against this drug. She even dared him to call her as she has given this drug to patients in Texas in all ages and not a single one of these patients died. So why is the US mainstream media against it? Simply because they are against President Trump.

Hydroxychloroquine is in a class of medications that was first used to prevent and treat malaria. Today, it is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The United States Center for Disease Control provides updated guidelines and travel recommendations for the prevention and treatment of malaria in different parts of the world. Discuss the most recent information with your doctor before traveling to areas where malaria occurs. So should America’s mainstream media allow American citizens to die because they can no longer publish the truth?

In yet another news in Europe, there was a huge rally in Berlin, where people showed their disgust to the way Angela Merkel was handling the Covid-19 issue. There were 17,000 people who attended that rally without face masks or social distancing. So what can we expect? There will be a rise in Covid-19 cases in Germany because of that Berlin rally.

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While we are blessed that Cebu City has been returned to general community quarantine (GCQ), call it unfortunate that Metro Manila or the National Capital Region has been put back to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) due to the increase in Covid-19 infections. This will be until August 18. Mind you, when Cebu City was placed under GCQ in early June, the number of cases spiked, particularly in Cebu City, which prompted the IATF to put the city back under ECQ on June 16.

After the situation improved during stricter quarantine, the IATF decided the city can return to GCQ starting August 1, upon the recommendation of Secretary Roy Cimatu, its overseer in Cebu. The ailing economy was also taken into consideration. Still in GCQ in Cebu are Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Consolacion, and Minglanilla. The rest of Cebu province is under modified GCQ.

Acknowledging that people would need to work, Duterte reminded everyone to observe the necessary health protocols. Mayor Labella, for his part, called on residents to be more vigilant and to not be complacent. He said the decision of IATF to put the city back under GCQ “recognizes the strides we made together in dealing with the pandemic. Together, we are able to slow down transmission, improved our recovery numbers and assist vulnerable members of our community and those needed help.” So if we want either to stay in GCQ or better, it is really up to us Cebuanos to learn to limit their style. Wear face masks and do social distancing and wash hands. This is the only way.

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