President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday ordered the continuous disbursal of Covid-19 allowances to health workers despite the end of the state of calamity in the country.
The Presidential Communications Office said the President gave the order during a meeting with officials of the Department of Health.
“It must be continued. I used to worry that the compensation for our health workers would not continue. We have studied carefully that even if the state of calamity will be discontinued, it will not affect the benefits to our health workers,” PCO quoted Marcos as telling health officials.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation 929 declaring a state of calamity across the country in March 2020, when Covid-19 began to spread.
The state of calamity was supposed to last for six months but was extended for a year up to 12 September 2021, through Proclamation No. 1021.
It was extended for the second time through Proclamation No. 1218.
Vaccines
The President expressed satisfaction with the current supply of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, considering the decreasing daily infection rates.
The COVAX facility, co-led by the World Health Organization, recently shipped to the Philippines almost 1.3 million vaccine doses — which Marcos said was sufficient for now.
“Our cases are declining, our hospitalization rate is going down, that’s what we’re observing. So we will see,” Marcos said.
“It is no longer necessary — unlike in 2021 when we were always in a rush to procure vaccines — because the risk is decreasing, so we should also adjust the scientific assessment on the Covid-19 situation,” he added.
As of 29 January, the Department of Health logged 9,982 active Covid-19 cases.
From 23 to 29 January, the DOH recorded 1,206 new cases, with 172 average daily cases for the period.
The number of cases was 35 percent lower than the cases from 16 to 22 January.
The DoH has so far vaccinated 73 million individuals, or 94.54 percent of the target population, while 21 million individuals have received their booster shots.
At least 6.9 million senior citizens, or 79.47 percent of the target A2 population, have received the primary series of Covid-19 vaccines, while 2.76 million senior citizens have had their booster shots.