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Trial for ‘wonder’ drug that may reduce COVID-19 deaths planned

OXFORD University researchers are planning a large-scale trial of an inexpensive drug that could help dramatically reduce COVID-19 deaths globally, according to a report in the Times.

The goal is to find treatments that could be used at home, shortly after symptoms appear, to catch the disease early and prevent serious illness.

This batch of medicines will include ivermectin, which for decades has been used to treat livestock and people infested with parasitic worms, the newspaper reported. Supporters call it a “wonder drug,” but others say it hasn’t been properly evaluated.

While the drug has potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties, “there’s a gap in the data,” Chris Butler, professor of primary care at the University of Oxford and a co-chief of the trial, told the Times. “There’s not been a really rigorous trial.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently suggested it has encouraging effects, the newspaper said. The drug is approved in the UK as a topical agent for skin infections and inflammation. — Bloomberg

Taiwan air force warns Chinese aircraft to leave

TAIPEI — Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion, the island’s defence ministry said.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months.

However, they have generally consisted of just one or two reconnaissance aircraft.

The presence of so many Chinese combat aircraft on this mission — Taiwan said it was made up of eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and four J-16 fighter jets — was unusual.

A map provided by Taiwan’s defense ministry showed that the Chinese aircraft, including a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, flew over the same waters where the most recent Chinese missions have been taking place near the Pratas Islands, though still well away from mainland Taiwan.

Taiwan’s air force warned away the Chinese aircraft and deployed missiles to monitor them, the ministry said, using standard wording for how it responds to such activities.

“Airborne alert sorties had been tasked, radio warnings issued and air defense missile systems deployed to monitor the activity,” it said in a brief statement.

The US State Department urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan and reaffirmed its commitment to the island and desire to deepen ties.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

“We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability.”

There was no immediate comment from China. In the past, China has said it has been carrying out exercises to defend its sovereignty and security.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry expressed its thanks for the show of US support, adding they would work closely with the Biden administration to strengthen their close partnership.

Lo Chih-Cheng, a senior lawmaker for Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party who sits on parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee, told Reuters China was trying to deter the new US government from backing the island.

“It’s sending a message to the Biden administration,” he said.

Beijing has watched with growing concern increasing US support for democratic Taiwan, especially during Donald Trump’s administration, which left office on Wednesday.

Last year, during visits by senior US officials to Taipei, Chinese aircraft briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer.

The flight by the Chinese bombers and fighters on Saturday came just days after Joe Biden assumed the US presidency.

Emily Horne, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, said the US commitment to Taiwan was “rock-solid” after the island’s de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, attended Mr. Biden’s swearing-in on Wednesday. — Reuters

New Zealand probes what may be 1st community COVID-19 case in months

WELLINGTON — New Zealand health officials said on Sunday they were investigating what they said was probably the country’s first community coronavirus case, in months in a woman who recently returned from overseas.

The 56-year-old, who returned to New Zealand on Dec. 30, tested positive for the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) days after leaving a two-week mandatory quarantine at the border where she had twice tested negative.

“We are working under the assumptions that this is a positive case and that it is a more transmissible variant, either the one identified first in South Africa or the UK, or potentially Brazil — or another transmissible variant,” Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a news conference.

It is not known how the woman was infected or whether the infection is new, Ms. Bloomfield said. But since the woman tested positive several days after being released from quarantine and has been at home, the authorities are treating it as a “probable community case”.

New Zealand, one of the most successful developed nations in controling the spread of the pandemic, last recorded a community coronavirus transmission on Nov. 18, according to the Health Ministry website.

A tough lockdown and geographical isolation helped New Zealand virtually eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders.

The country of 5 million people has had only 1,927 confirmed cases. But with the pandemic raging globally, more people are returning to New Zealand with infections, including the new variants, raising concerns the virus may spread in the community again.

The woman, who lives in Northland on New Zealand’s North Island, quarantined upon arrival in a managed isolation facility in Auckland where several the highly virulent COVID-19 cases have been recorded in recent weeks, Bloomfield said.

“This is a reminder to all of us that the pandemic continues and that this is a tricky virus,” he said.

Social media users rushed to express concern and frustration about the new case, with one user describing the reactions on Twitter as a “collective groan”.

On Sunday, there were eight new infections, all returning travellers quarantined at the border, bringing active cases among those quarantined to 79, the ministry said in a statement. — Reuters

Don’t talk on the subway, say French doctors, to limit COVID-19 spread

PARIS — Passengers on public transport systems should avoid talking to one another or on the phone in order to minimize the risk of spreading coronavirus, the French National Academy of Medicine said.

“The mandatory wearing of masks on public transport, where social distancing is not possible, should by accompanied by one very simple precaution: avoid talking and making phone calls,” the academy said in a statement.

Academy member Patrick Berche said on BFM TV on Saturday that if there were only three people in a subway car there was no problem, but if you were only two centimeters away from the next person it made sense not to converse or talk on the phone.

“It is not an obligation, it is a recommendation,” he said.

The academy is not an official advisory body. It can respond to government questions but also issues recommendations, which sometimes go against official policy.

The academy – which was founded in 1820 – criticized a recent government recommendation to wear only surgical masks in public, rather than masks made of fabric.

“The proposed tightening of regulation (on masks) is based on a precautionary principle but it lacks scientific proof,” the academy said.

It said that fabric or homemade masks were efficient against the spread of coronavirus as long as they were worn correctly and that most infections took place in situations where people took off their masks.

“Such a change in recommendations concerning a practice with which the entire population had become familiar, risks sparking incomprehension and could revive doubts about the soundness of official policies,” the academy said. — REUTERS (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Top Spanish general resigns over allegations of vaccination queue-jumping

MADRID — Spain’s top general resigned on Saturday after allegations he had received the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of priority groups, one of a number of public officials who have sparked public anger because of reports they have jumped the vaccination queue.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles had asked General Miguel Angel Villaroya, chief of defence staff, for explanations after media reports on Friday that he had received the vaccination.

In a statement on his resignation, the defence ministry indicated but did not explicitly state that Mr. Villaroya had had the vaccination. The general “never intended to take advantage of unjustifiable privileges which damaged the image of the Armed Forces and put in doubt the honour of the general,” it said.

It added that Mr. Villaroya “took decisions which he thought to be correct” but which “damaged the public image of the Armed Forces”.

It was not immediately possible to contact Mr. Villaroya for comment.

At start of the pandemic, Mr. Villaroya represented the military at media daily briefings where he detailed how troops were cleaning care homes and caring for elderly residents.

Spaniards have been indignant over the queue-jumping.

“General Villarroya and other colleagues, my companion is 67, has Alzheimer’s and is blind. We are waiting for the vaccine. A clerk and a former nurse and we are in the first group. Are you more important?” tweeted a user with the handle @Marcosendra1.

Nationwide infection rates have soared since late December, with 42,885 new cases added to the tally on Friday bringing the total of cases to 2,499,560. Four hundred deaths were reported, for a total death toll of 55,441. — REUTERS (Reporting by Graham Keeley Editing by Frances Kerry)

U.S. health officials: More data needed on UK COVID-19 variant warning

WASHINGTON — The United States is closely watching the more infectious variant of COVID-19 after British officials warned that it may also be more deadly, two top U.S. health officials said on Saturday, cautioning more data is needed.

Officials are somewhat more worried about a separate variant from South Africa, although it has not yet been identified among U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top COVID-19 medical adviser, also said.

Mr. Collins noted the UK’s data was preliminary, and said it was unclear why those with the UK variant faced a higher risk of death, whether by changes in the virus itself or other external causes such as pressures on the healthcare system.

“Let’s take this as something to watch closely,” he told MSNBC in an interview.

Mr. Fauci separately told MSNBC that he needed to see the raw data from the UK before fully assessing the mortality risk and that U.S. officials were weighing how the two new strains could impact vaccine efficacy.

“These are serious situations that we are following very closely and, if necessary, we will adapt to it,” Fauci said, adding vaccines could be altered in coming months if needed.

Their comments come as Democratic President Joe Biden takes the reins of the nation’s COVID-19 response, seeking to re-energize the fight against the highly infectious disease and urging a war-like stance. In a flurry of actions since taking office Wednesday, Biden unveiled a new U.S. strategic plan to curtail the outbreak and signed numerous executive orders to boost vaccines and increase mask use, among other measures.

The United States is the nation hardest-hit by COVID-19, with 24.70 million cases and 413,775 deaths by midnight Friday. Over the past week, 3,089 Americans have died of the disease on average, while 20 U.S. states reported record deaths this month.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday warned that the UK variant was associated with higher level of mortality.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week warned the UK variant, already circulating in at least 10 U.S. states, could become the dominant variant in the United States by March. The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is believed to be twice as contagious as the current one circulating nationwide.

“At the moment we are not alarmed about that,” Mr. Collins said, given that vaccines still appeared effective against it. “We are somewhat more concerned about a South African variant.”

Mr. Fauci, U.S. top infectious disease expert, echoed his concerns, calling data on the South Africa variant a bit more “ominous” even as current vaccines still appeared to protect against both variants.

Scientists on Wednesday said the South African variant may reduce the efficacy of current vaccines, which also raises the prospect of re-infection.

Britain has banned travelers from some African countries in an attempt to stop the spread of that strain in the United Kingdom and is weighing further restrictions.

Biden has moved to impose a mandatory quarantine for air passengers arriving in the United States, although details have not yet been released. He is also requiring U.S.-bound passengers to have a negative COVID-19 test starting on Tuesday.

Even without a greater mortality risk, more contagious variants increase the pressure on officials to vaccinate the population — a campaign many state and local officials have said has been slow and chaotic and one Biden has pledged to improve.

“When you get more cases, you’re going to get more hospitalizations. And when you get more hospitalizations, you’re ultimately going to get more deaths,” Mr. Fauci told reporters at the White House on Thursday. — REUTERS (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Anurag Maan, Editing by Franklin Paul and Diane Craft)

BSP seen unlikely to touch rates this year

The Philippine central bank would probably pause monetary easing this year until previous rate cuts lead to substantial credit growth, according to Standard Chartered Bank.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is likely to bring down banks’ reserve requirements further instead to boost liquidity, Chidu Narayanan, an economist at the foreign bank, told an online news briefing on Friday.

“We think they will keep rates unchanged,” he said. “They have eased quite substantially so they will wait for the easing to pass through the economy.”

Mr. Narayanan noted that previous policy rate cuts had not really encouraged banks to lend more or companies to borrow. “It remains very soft particularly among corporates.”

The central bank’s policy-making Monetary Board slashed key policy rates by 200 basis points (bps) last year, bringing the overnight reverse repurchase, lending and deposit rates to record lows of 2%, 2.5%, and 1.5%, respectively.

It also cut the reserve requirements for big banks by 200 bps to 12%, and by 3% and 2% for thrift and rural lenders.

Despite this, outstanding loans of universal and commercial banks inched up by only 0.3% year on year to P8.978 billion in November, the slowest since September 2006, according to BSP data.

Monetary authorities might deliver “even further unconventional policy measures to keep conditions soft,” Mr. Narayanan said.

He said bank lending had not picked up substantially due to subdued business sentiment.

On the other hand, the central bank could lower banks’ reserve requirements by 100 bps this year to boost liquidity, mostly likely in the second half, Mr. Narayanan said.

‘MODEST RECOVERY’

State spending especially on infrastructure would probably become the main growth driver as consumption and private investments remain subdued, he added.

Standard Chartered expects the Philippine economy to have shrunk by 8.9% last year, within the government’s expectations of an 8.5% to 9.5% slump.

Economic output would probably grow by 6.1% this year, lower than economic managers’ forecast of 6.5% to 7.5% growth.

“We expect only a modest recovery in 2021,” Mr. Narayanan said. “Most of the recovery will be driven by public investments, with increased fiscal spending, particularly the P1.1-trillion earmarked for infrastructure investments,” he added.

Standard Chartered expects the economy to grow by 2.1% this quarter, by 15.7%, 5.5% and 2.4% in the following quarters. The local statistics agency will release growth figures for the last quarter on Jan. 28.

Growth risks include a potential resurgence of coronavirus infections and slow state spending growth, Mr. Narayanan said. “If cases remain quite high, that could weigh on sentiment.”

Inflation could average 3.5% this year and 3% next year. “We don’t see inflation as a massive risk for the Philippines” Inflation was 3.5% in December, bringing the full-year average to 2.6%.

Standard Chartered expects the peso to slightly weaken against the dollar to 49.50 by year-end after a strong base last year.

PEZA eyes P100B in pledges this year

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) seeks to get more than P100 billion in investment pledges this year, slightly higher than last year.

“We don’t want to be promising high figures,” PEZA Director-General Charito B. Plaza said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. “Instead, we must work hard and build support and partnerships from public and private stakeholders to bring in new investors, keep existing investors and for them to expand, not transfer.”

The agency said it would conduct monthly fora where export investors, industry associations, foreign chambers, investment promotion partners, economic zone developers and operators, local government units, businessmen, professional cooperatives, national agencies, economists and lawmakers can meet to discuss business and investment opportunities in PEZA ecozones.

The investment promotion agency posted P95.03 billion in pledges last year, falling by almost a fifth from a year earlier.

Last year’s pledges fell short of the agency’s target to approve at least P100 billion in investment pledges, which had been lowered from its 5% to 10% growth target set before the global coronavirus pandemic hit.

Foreign investments last year jumped by 21% to P59.73 billion, but local investments plummeted by 48% to P35.3 billion.

The agency traced the decline to various causes including coronavirus lockdowns that started in mid-March.

PEZA approved 326 projects last year, 217 of which came from the manufacturing sector. The sector generated P34.44 billion in investments, 13.43% higher than a year earlier.

More than a hundred projects under the outsourcing sector brought in P17.41 billion in investments, down by less than a percent from from 2019, the agency said.

Most of the foreign investments came from the United States, European countries such as the United Kingdom and Belgium, and Asian countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Philippines, Indonesia eye copper tie-ups

The Philippines and Indonesia have pledged to deepen ties to boost their copper industries, according to the Trade department.

Officials from both countries met virtually on Jan. 14 to exchange information, share good practices, and present investment opportunities and areas for collaboration in the sector, the Philippine Trade department said in a statement on Friday.

During the meeting, Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BoI) Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said Indonesia could help the Philippines boost its copper production, transport and storage and marketing.

BoI Executive Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa said the two countries can collaborate to boost their copper industries and improve their integration in global value chains. “This will only be one of the many bilateral initiatives for the copper industry.”

The BoI said Indonesian officials led by Randi Anwar, director of its Investment Coordinating Board, Ministry of Energy Director General Muhammad Wafid and Ministry of Industry’s acting head Bimo Pratomo “welcomed future collaboration and cooperation activities on the copper/mining industry to help each sides’ downstream copper industries.”

The BoI recently launched the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone master development plan that will be anchored on the copper industry and other allied industries such as iron and steel and shipbuilding.

The agency said the copper industry is one of its priority sectors for investment promotion because it forms part of the country’s recovery plan.

Philex Mining Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Eulalio B. Austin, Jr., who also attended the meeting, said pipeline copper projects that require huge capital investments include the Silangan project in Surigao del Norte, Tampakan project in South Cotabato and Kingking project in Compostela Valley.

These projects could yield “economic progress not only for Mindanao but the country in general,” the BoI said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

Philippines tightens testing for travelers

The Philippines on Friday tightened testing protocols for foreign travelers to ensure the detection of new coronavirus strains.

Passengers from countries where new COVID-19 variants have been detected must undergo a second coronavirus swab test on their fifth day of quarantine, according to an order issued by an inter-agency task force.

Co-passengers and the partner of a 29-year-old Filipino infected with a strain first detected in Britain had tested negative upon arrival in Manila from the United Arab Emirateson Jan. 7, but later tested positive. The man left the Philippines for the UAE on Dec. 27.

The man had recovered from the new virus strain and was now negative, the Quezon City local government said on Friday.

“The doctors at the quarantine facility where he is staying will make a final assessment before he is allowed to reunite with his family and reintegrate with the community,” it said in a statement. “He will remain under health monitoring for at least two weeks.”

People who get negative results in both tests may go to their local destinations, which will monitor them for the rest of their two-week quarantine, according to the task force order. A new round of COVID-19 testing must be done before they are allowed to go home.

The task force allowed foreigners with valid visas, including personnel of accredited international organizations, and the spouses and minor children of Filipino citizens, to visit the Philippines as long as they get tested upon arrival at the airports. They must also promise to get quarantined for 14 days.

The Philippines on Jan. 15 extended the travel ban on more than 30 countries with confirmed cases of the more contagious COVID-19 variant until the end of the month.

Included in the ban are the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Hungary.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DoH) on Friday said it would tap the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in locating two co-passengers of a Filipino who tested positive for a more contagious coronavirus strain.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said the contact number given by one passenger was an overseas number, while the other could not be reached. Their addresses were also incomplete.

“We’ve been trying hard to find them and we’re doing everything we can,” she told an online news briefing in Filipino.

“We’ve coordinated with the Department of Justice and we will be providing these two names to the NBI through the Department of Justice today,” she added.

More than a dozen close contacts of the passenger have also tested positive for the coronavirus. Health authorities have yet to find out whether they also got infected with the new variant.

Younger kids allowed in malls

Minors as young as 10 years may go out to visit malls in areas under a general lockdown starting Feb. 1 to boost consumer spending, according to the government’s task force against the coronavirus.

“Any person below 10 years old, those who are over 65 years of age, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks, and pregnant women shall be required to remain in their residences at all times,” according to a task force order.

The task force encouraged local governments under a general quarantine to adopt the relaxed rules.

The task force also approved the request of the Professional Regulation Commission to conduct and administer the licensure exams for professionals scheduled for January to March provided it observes strict health protocols. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

The Department of Health (DoH) reported 2,178 coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total to 509,887.

The death toll rose by 20 to 10,136, while recoveries increased by 250 to 467,720, it said in a bulletin.

There were 32, 031 active cases, 83.6% of which were mild, 9.5% did not show symptoms, 4.1% were critical, 2.3% were severe and 0.42% were moderate.

Quezon City reported the highest number of new cases at 148, followed by Bulacan at 88, Cebu City at 80, Davao City at 79 and Mountain Province at 75.

The agency said eight duplicates had been removed from the tally, while five recovered cases were reclassified as deaths. Three laboratories failed to submit their data on Jan. 21.

More than seven million Filipinos have been tested for the coronavirus as of Jan. 20, according to DoH’s tracker website.

The coronavirus has sickened about 98.2 million and killed more than 2.1 million people worldwide, according to the Worldometers website, citing various sources including data from the World Health Organization.

About 70.6 million people have recovered, it said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Muslim official warns of increased resistance

Splinter Muslim rebel groups might increase their resistance if the transition period toward a more independent Bangsamoro region in Mindanao is not extended, according to the region’s chief minister.

Extending the period to 2025 would ensure that the fruits of the peace process are reaped, Ahod B. Ebrahim, chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told an online news briefing on Friday.

“If the transition is not extended, we will go back to zero,” he said. “There are groups waiting for the Bangsamoro region to fail. They will exploit the failure.”

At least three bills have been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to extend the term of the Bangsamoro Transition Council for three more years. The first regular elections for the Bangsamoro Parliament is set for May 2022.

The Bangsamoro Organic Law that took effect in 2019 established the new autonomous region that replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim in Mindanao. It was meant to give the people of southern Philippines the right to self-determination and governance.

Mr. Ebrahim said the Transition Council needs more time to implement the region’s programs, including bringing Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters back to civilian life. It also seeks to win over more armed groups in Mindanao.
The council has yet to disarm fighters and commanders outside the peace process.

“With the lot of tasks given to us, we cannot complete them until 2022. That is why there are calls for extension,” Mr. Ebrahim said.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker sought a review of the transition period.

Basilan Rep. Mujiv S. Hataman said the review seeks to look at allegations of corruption including “anomalous disbursements” in the region’s infrastructure projects worth P107 billion.

The International Organization for Migration, British Embassy Manila and the German government on Friday handed over medical vehicles and equipment to the region’s Ministry of Health to boost efforts against the coronavirus. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

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