The Commission on Higher Education is allowing 24 higher education institutions (HEIs) to hold “limited face-to-face classes” starting in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021.
CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III said these colleges and universities passed stringent retrofitting and had fully complied with the guidelines of the Department of Health and the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“They can now bring their 3rd and 4th year students for hands-on training and laboratory classes in a limited face-to-face system. CHED will continue to monitor these HEIs and I am confident that they will provide safe and healthy spaces for their students in the coming months,” he said.
The schools that were able to secure CHED’s approval are: Mariano Marcos State University – Batac (Region I); St. Louis University (Cordillera Administrative Region); Our Lady of Fatima University – City of San Fernando (Region III); Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health (National Capital Region-NCR); University of Santo Tomas (NCR); University of East Ramon Magsaysay (NCR); Our Lady of Fatima University – Quezon City (NCR); Our Lady of Fatima University – Valenzuela City (NCR); Manila Central University (NCR); University of the Philippines-Manila (NCR); Adventist University of the Philippines (Region IV); De La Salle Health and Medical Science Institute (Region IV); University of Perpetual Help – Don Jose (Region IV); Our Lady of Fatima University – Sta. Rosa (Region IV); Naga College Foundation (Region V); West Visayas State University (Region VI); Central Philippine University (Region VI); Cebu Institute of Medicine (Region VII); University of Cebu School of Medicine (Region VII); Iloilo Doctors’ College of Medicine (Region VI); University of Iloilo (Region VI); Blancia Foundation College, Inc. (Region IX); Xavier University (Region X); and Liceo de Cagayan University (Region X)
Senior citizens
Senior citizens are about 63 percent of the country’s COVID-19 fatalities, the Department of Health has said.
Out of the 13,039 COVID-19 fatalities, 8,225 or 63 percent were senior citizens aged 60 years and above.
Healthcare workers are on top of the priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19, followed by senior citizens and other sectors.
“Senior citizens are the best candidates for COVID vaccination. It’s their only protection. Their bodies are aging as well as their immune system,” Dr. Shelly Ann dela Vega, director of the Institute on Aging, said.
Drugs supply
The country’s new supply of remdesivir and tocilizumab, drugs used in treating COVID-19 patients, will be replenished soon after distributors vowed a restock within the month, a Department of Health official said on Friday.
The DOH has coordinated with the distributor and maker of tocilizumab, Zuellig Pharma and Roche, as well as the supplier of remdesivir.
“They mentioned in a letter formally that the stocks will be arriving this March. It’s coming. I think that we’re just losing some supplies but the new stocks are coming by March so we can definitely access that,” Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said during a briefing.
The DOH earlier said the stocks of remdesivir and tocilizumab were running low due to a surge in infections and might last for only about two weeks.
AstraZeneca vials
The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine vials that encountered temperature issues on their way to Bicol did not go to waste as they retained their potency and can still be used, the Department of Health said Friday.
“The initial information and recommendation is to continue using the vaccines because they are still potent,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire after an inspection by experts from the DOH, World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The health authorities in Bicol notified the DOH that only one box of AstraZeneca vials they received had a faulty temperature logger.
Contact tracing
The House of Representatives has adopted a resolution that urges the IATF to establish a unified national contact tracing protocol.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco’s House Resolution1680 was unanimously adopted at the lower chamber Thursday, the last day of Congress’ session for a Lenten break.
The resolution urges the IATF to craft a contact tracing protocol that includes the designation of a government agency or body that will serve as the centralized repository of information to facilitate a faster health emergency response system.