FOREIGN NEWS

Study finds India missed

early cases, lockdown was
leaky
Associated Press / 06:38 PM September 11, 2020

Indians wearing face masks as a precaution

against the coronavirus walk at a bus
station in Jammu, India, Friday, Sept. 11,
2020. By early May, 6.4 million people in
India were likely infected by the
coronavirus, said a study released Thursday,
Sept. 10, by Indian scientists from the Indian
Council of Medical Research, India’s apex medical research body and published in their in-house
medical journal. At the time, India had detected around 35,000 cases and over a thousand deaths.
But the results of India’s first nationwide study of prevailing infections in the country found that for
every confirmed case that detected in May, authorities were missing between 82 and 130 infections.
The study tested 28,000 people for proteins produced in response to the virus in the villages and
towns across 70 districts in 21 Indian states between May 11 to June 14. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

NEW DELHI — Results of India’s first nationwide study of prevailing coronavirus infections found
that for every confirmed case detected in May, authorities were missing between 82 and 130 others.

At the time, India had confirmed around 35,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths. The study released
Thursday showed that 6.4 million people were likely infected. And the virus had already spread to
India’s villages, straining fragile health systems.

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Experts say the study confirms India’s limited and restrictive testing masked the actual toll and
underlines the fact that the harsh lockdown was only able to slow the spread of the virus, not sever
the chain of transmission.

The study tested 28,000 people for proteins produced in response to the virus in villages and towns
across 70 districts in 21 Indian states between May 11 to June 14. The peer-reviewed study was
conducted by scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s apex medical research
body, and published in their in-house medical journal.

Around 70% of those who tested positive during the study were from villages, indicating that the
lockdown was unable to stop the virus from entering rural areas. The study found that 16% were
from urban slum areas, and the rest from other urban areas.

The study also found antibodies in people who lived in districts that hadn’t yet reported a case and
didn’t have laboratories to test for cases when the survey was conducted.

Experts believe the missed infections likely contributed to the spread of the virus. Although testing
in India has since vastly improved, it is now the second worst-hit country in the world, with over 4.5
million cases and more than 76,000 deaths.

But even these results could be an underestimate of how many people were infected in May since
the two types of tests scientists used in the study aren’t the most accurate, said Dr. Gagandeep Kang,
infectious diseases expert at the Christian Medical College in southern Vellore city who wasn’t
involved with the project.

India’s lockdown of 1.3 billion people was necessitated by its initial sluggish response to the virus.
But millions lost their jobs, and thousands, fearing starvation, poured out of cities to try and get
back to their rural homes. The economy shrunk by nearly 24% in the last quarter, the most of any
major country.

The viral spread to rural areas and small towns as early as May shows that the lockdown was
“leaky,” said retired virologist and pediatrician Dr. T. Jacob John. He faulted the government for not
immediately moving away from a strategy of a nationwide lockdown to a more localized approach
aimed at trying to balance the management of the disease and keeping the economy alive.
He said that the time for containment had long passed and India now needs to focus on trying to
reduce deaths, while tentatively trying to kick-start the economy.

“Now that the horses are all outside the barn, locking the door isn’t going to help very much,” he
said.

LOCAL NEWS

Documents snag arrival of

Pfizer's COVID-19 shots in
Philippines: Palace
Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and
sryinge are seen in front of displayed Pfizer logo in this
illustration taken, Feb. 9, 2021.  Dado Ruvic, Reuters 

MANILA — A hold-up in the processing of some documents

has pushed back the arrival of US-based Pfizer's    coronavirus
shots in the Philippines, an official leading the country's
pandemic response said on Thursday.

The first batch of 117,000 COVID-19 shots from Pfizer will come from the COVAX Facility, a global initiative that
aims to ensure equitable access to vaccines. 

"Iyong ating first 117,000 na Pfizer vaccines, nagkaroon ng kaunting delay dahil sa processing ng mga dokumento
with the COVAX facility and the World Health Organization," said Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the
National Task Force Against COVID-19. 

(Our first 117,000 Pfizer vaccines met some delay because of the processing of documents.)

Dizon declined to say which documents were delayed. 

“Pero we were assured na tinatapos na ito (this is being finalized) as we speak,” he told reporters in an online
briefing.
 
The Philippines has yet to receive a tentative date when the Pfizer shots will arrive, said Palace spokesman Harry
Roque. In contrast, 600,000 donated COVID-19 shots from China's Sinovac will be delivered to the Philippines on
Feb. 23, he said.

Pfizer's vaccine has emergency use authorization in the Philippines. Sinovac does not. 
 
"Inaasahan po natin, hindi matatapos ang buwan ng Pebrero at darating din ang paunang shipment galing sa
COVAX Facility," Roque said in online briefing.

(We expect that February will not end without an initial shipment from the COVAX Facility.) 

"There's still this possibility na baka naman, harinawa, mauna pa rin ang Pfizer itong third week," he added. 

here is still a possibility, God willing, that Pfizer might arrive first in the third week of February.)

DATELINE NEWS

Police: No contact yet with

dozens of co-passengers of 2
nCoV patients in PH ABS-CBN News
Passengers arriving at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Parañaque
City wear face masks as a precaution on January 23,
2020, as the country raises the alert to prevent the
spread of an undetermined strain of the coronavirus
originating from Wuhan, China. Mark Demayo, ABS-
CBN News

MANILA—Dozens of passengers on the same flights

as two Chinese citizens found positive for the novel
coronavirus in the Philippines could not be reached, a
law enforcement agency tasked to locate the travelers at risk of infection said Saturday.

Police Col. Rhoderick Armamento of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said his group
was only able to track down 102 out of 191 passengers of two flights that the Chinese nationals had
taken on Jan. 21.

" 'Yong iba na hindi namin na-contact ay tinext na lang namin. Some of them indeed replied to our
queries," he told ANC's "Dateline."

(We sent text messages to those we couldn't contact. Some of them indeed replied to our queries.)
"Unfortunately, meron hindi rin namin na-contact because for some reasons 'yong iba do'n hindi
nagri-ring. Assumption namin is mali 'yong number na naibigay and talagang out of reach lang siya,"
added Armamento, CIDG's deputy director for operations.

(Unfortunately, we couldn't reach the others because for some reason their phone wouldn't ring. We
assumed they have given a wrong number or they're just out of reach.)

The CIDG was tasked to complete the "contact tracing" or locate the passengers onboard Philippine
Airlines' Dumaguete to Manila flight and Cebu Pacific's Cebu to Dumaguete flight.

 Cebu Pacific, PAL help trace seatmates of confirmed coronavirus patient

On both flights, they located 35 out of 61 Cebu Pacific passengers and 67 out of 130 Philippine
Airlines passengers as of Saturday midnight, Armamento said. They have been put under house
quarantine.

Some 6 passengers, 3 from each flight, are also being monitored by health authorities after exhibiting
flu-like symptoms.

As they are still only halfway through contact tracing, the CIDG is also using social media to locate
the travelers.

"We are in constant coordination with immigration, number 1. Number 2, 'yong aming Anti-
Cybercrime Group, we even resorted to reaching them out through electronic means, Viber, even
Facebook, chat and other means of communications," Armamento said.