The clinical trial of the Japanese anti-flu drug Avigan in the Philippines has hit a snag due to the absence of qualified COVID-19 patients classified as mild cases, the Department of Health said Friday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH spokesperson, said only four of the 100 required COVID-19 were classified as mild cases for the Avigan trial as of November 5.
Under government protocol, mild cases of COVID-19 will be treated under temporary treatment and monitoring facilities supervised by the national and local governments so as not to overwhelm the hospitals and other health care facilities needed to treat severe and critical COVID-19 cases.
Vergeire said protocols on conducting clinical trials for Avigan were already being revised but conceded that the final output could take time.
The Avigan trial in the country is supposed to start in July, but it was repeatedly postponed until it was able to start this month.
COVID updates
The Philippines logged on Friday 2,092 new COVID-19 cases in the country, bringing the total to 391,809, while 7,461 have died after 52 were reported to have been killed, DOH reported.
The top cities and provinces with new cases are Davao City, 129; Quezon City, 100; Quezon Province, 83; Northern Province, 82; and Cavite Province, 80.
The DOH also said 34,374 or 8.8 percent of the total are active cases.
Of the active cases, 83.6 percent are mild; 9.8 percent are asymptomatic; 4.2 percent are critical; and 2.4 percent are severe.
The DOH also reported that 462 more persons have recovered, bringing the total to 349,974 recoveries. This is 89.3 percent of the total number of cases.
Price ceiling
DOH said Friday said it planned to release the price ceiling for coronavirus test kits by next week.
DOH, in a press briefing, said they already met with the Department of Trade and Industry twice this week to discuss the test kits’ recommended price range.
President Rodrigo Duterte, through Executive Order 118, on Wednesday directed DTI and DOH to set a price ceiling on COVID-19 tests after his Cabinet members and other officials reported some incidents of overpricing.
“DTI and DOH already met and we have agreed that we need to release our recommended price range for COVID-19 tests by next week. We are still studying the price range for such tests.),” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
DOLE CAMP
Workers in the private sector who have been displaced or affected by the pandemic can now start applying online in the Department of Labor and Employment’s second tranche of cash assistance via its COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP).
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said DOLE developed the online system to streamline, simplify, and digitize the submission of applications of the affected workers.
Bello added that apart from enhancing the efficiency in processing the application, the DOLE team who developed the system led by Undersecretary Ana Dione and Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresita Cucueco, also designed the online application service to reduce physical contact and ensure the safety of the public and DOLE employees as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Health.
The online application system can be accessed at https://reports.dole.gov.ph.