Research the following:

1. Make a research on the current situation of the Philippines amidst COVID 19 pandemic.
The situation of COVID-19 here in our country is rampant. As of today, September 17,
2021, there are over 2.3 million cases of COVID-19 while the death rate rises to 36,018.
The area with the highest COVID-19 positive cases and deaths is Metro Manila. In Metro
Manila, there are 748k confirmed cases and 9,304 deaths. The second place with highest
cases is the CALABARZON. For the whole region, there are 355k cases with 4,073
deaths. This is very alarming because it shows how incompetent the government is. In the
previous article released by GMA news with the headline "How the new COVID-19 alert
levels and granular lockdowns work", Consuelo Marquez explained the new alert level
systems implemented by the government. The newly implemented alert level systems are
called Alert Level 1, Alert Level 2, Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 4. The alert level
assigned to an area varies with their cases of COVID-19. In his statement, the presidential
spokesperson, Mr. Harry Roque stated that the Alert Level 1 up to Alert Level 4 will help
in lessening the transmission of the coronavirus variants. Because of the worsening
situation of the Philippines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the government needed
to implement new alert level systems as policies for lockdown. While this may help in
alleviating the spread of the disease, it may also mirror the incompetence of our
government in its health response. This is because it is not a guarantee that the spread of
coronavirus will be lessened more certainly if their governance about health response is
poor. For almost two years, we experienced numerous lockdowns, but it still seems not to
be effective because as we look for other countries around the world, the Philippines falls
behind. Just like in the current news reported, Venezuela and Philippines are the only
countries that conduct online classes while the rest are already back to normal. This only
means that the health response in both countries is extremely poor.

2. What are the latest variants of COVID 19 and discuss its characteristics.
As of today, there are various variants of COVID-19. First, there is the Alpha variant,
which is also known as B.1.1.7. The transmission of the disease is much faster than the
other variants. The said variant is from the United Kingdom. This variant may potentially
cause more individuals to get their illness worse and thus lead to death. Secondly, there is
also the Beta variant. This variant is also known as B.1.351 and comes from South
Africa. There is a possibility that the transmission of coronavirus becomes faster than
other variants. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there is no
indication that more harmful illness or deaths are under the Beta variant. Furthermore, the
transmission of the Gamma or P.1 variant that comes from Japan and Brazil is also faster
than the other variants. Just like in the Beta variant, there is no indication that more
extreme illnesses are listed under the mentioned variant. The fourth variation is the Delta
or B.1.617.2 variant. The said variant originated from India. The spread of the
coronavirus is much faster than any other variants. This variant can cause more extreme
cases than the other variants. Lastly, the most recent one is the Lambda or SARS-CoV-2
variant. All the variations, including the Lambda variant that causes COVID-19 changes
over a period. It was said that most of the changes have a tiny effect on the virus’
 characteristics. Yet, some changes can affect the virus’ properties like how it spreads,
vaccine’s performance, social measures, and such. There are other variants present but
those mentioned above are the most well-known and recent ones.

Sources:
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/803188/how-the-new-covid-19-alert-levels-
and-granular-lockdowns-work/story/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant.html
https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/