MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Coronavirus infections in the Philippines have surpassed 500,000 in a bleak new milestone, with the government facing criticism for not immediately launching a vaccination program amid a global race for COVID-19 vaccines.
The Department of Health reported 1,895 new infections on Sunday, bringing confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country to 500,577, the second highest in Southeast Asia. There were at least 9,895 deaths.
The Philippines is negotiating with seven Western and Chinese companies to secure 148 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but the effort has been fraught with uncertainty and confusion. About 50,000 doses of Sinovac Biotech Ltd., based in China, may arrive next month, followed by much larger shipments, according to the government, but concerns have been raised about its effectiveness.
President Rodrigo Duterte says securing vaccines has been difficult because wealthy nations guaranteed massive doses for their citizens first.
Duterte’s elite guards acknowledged that they were inoculated with an as yet unauthorized COVID-19 vaccine, in part to ensure that they did not infect the 75-year-old president. Duterte’s spokesman and other officials denied that the president himself was vaccinated.
A flurry of criticism followed the illegal vaccinations, but few details were released, including which vaccine was used and how the guards obtained it. Some senators tried to investigate, but Duterte ordered his guards not to appear in the Senate.
In other developments in the Asia-Pacific region:
– Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Monday promised to bring the pandemic under control and to keep the already postponed Olympics this summer with ample protection against the coronavirus. In a speech opening a new session of parliament, Suga said his government will revise the laws to make anti-virus measures applicable with penalties and compensation. At the beginning of the pandemic, Japan was able to keep its number of virus cases manageable with non-binding requests for companies to close or operate with social distance and for people to stay at home. But the past few weeks have seen several increases in new cases per day, partly attributed to moderate attitudes toward anti-virus measures, and doubts are growing as more contagious variants spread as people wait for vaccines and the Olympics approach. The health ministry also reported on Monday that three people who have no record of recent travel abroad have tested positive for the new coronavirus variant first reported in Britain, suggesting it is coming to Japan. Suga said that his government plans to start vaccination as early as the end of February. Japan confirmed more than 330,000 infections and 4,500 deaths from COVID-19, numbers that have recently increased, although they are still much smaller than many other countries of its size.
– A Chinese province battling an increase in coronavirus cases is reinstating strict restrictions on weddings, funerals and other family reunions, threatening offenders with criminal charges. The high court’s warning in Hebei Province gave no details, but said that all types of social gatherings are now being regulated to prevent the virus from spreading. Hebei had one of the most serious outbreaks in China in months, amid measures to curb the spread during the Lunar New Year holiday in February. Authorities asked citizens not to travel, ordered schools to close a week earlier, and conducted tests on a large scale. Hebei registered another 54 cases in the last 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Monday, while Jilin province in the north registered 30 cases and Heilongjiang further north seven. Beijing has had two new cases and most buildings and housing developments now require proof of a negative coronavirus test for entry.
– Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin released a new stimulus of 15 billion ringgits ($ 3.7 billion) to boost consumption, with the economy expecting a recovery after a second coronavirus block and an emergency declaration . Muhyiddin obtained royal consent last week to declare a coronavirus emergency, criticized by critics as a desperate attempt to seize power amid defections from his ruling coalition. The emergency, which is expected to last until August 1, does not involve a curfew or military intervention, but suspends Parliament, suspends any election and gives the Muhyiddin government absolute power, including the introduction of new laws. It came at the same time as millions in Kuala Lumpur and several high-risk states were placed under a two-week block to prevent an increase in coronavirus cases. Muhyiddin on Monday acknowledged concern about the emergency, but repeated that the aim was only to contain the coronavirus. He said the economic impact of the blockade will be manageable because more activities are being allowed this time around. He said the stimulus will provide more funds to fight the pandemic and support livelihoods and businesses. A businessman filed a lawsuit challenging the emergency declaration and the opposition plans to appeal to the king to terminate his support. Malaysia has recorded more than 158,000 cases of coronavirus, including 601 deaths.
– Nepal’s Ministry of Health says that the country’s first cases of the new most infectious coronavirus variant found in the UK have been confirmed in three people who arrived from the UK. The ministry said on Monday that samples from six people who arrived in Nepal last week were sent to a laboratory in Hong Kong with help from the World Health Organization. Three of the people – two men and one woman – tested positive for the new variant, he said. Two have recovered and one is still sick, the ministry said. Nepal recorded 267,322 cases of coronavirus, including 1,959 deaths.