Opinions
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Philippine elections 2022 The world will be watching |
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Ferdinand Marcos Jr. |
Leni Robredo |
This is an important year for the Philippines. As Filipinos struggle to overcome the incapacitating health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the political climate is heating up and political candidates are now trying to convince the population that better days are just a few months ahead. On May 9, Filipinos will head to the polls to elect the successor of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, whose six-year term ends this year.
While the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in late December 2021 released a tentative list of political aspirants for the May election – reducing the number of presidential aspirants from 97 down to 15 – Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said the official list, minus the nuisance candidates, will be released soon, once the ballots are printed. That is expected on January 17.
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K-12 students back to in-person learning |
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James helps his young son, Sebastian, get prepared to go back to in-school learning. “I want my son to be mentally and physically ready for the change after the long holiday break,” said James. Manitoba’s K-12 students and teachers return to in-person learning on January 17. |
Manitoba’s K-12 students and teachers return to in-person learning on Monday, January 17. This time, however, schools will no longer provide close contact notification and notification letters on individual cases but will provide reports of absenteeism through their regular notification channels to their school community.
Schools will monitor staff and student absenteeism rates and self-reported COVID-19 cases. In addition, public health will continue to report confirmed cases through the online dashboard and monitor confirmed cases in schools for evidence of increased transmission above levels expected in the community. When there is increased COVID-19 activity based on absenteeism, case counts or operational concerns, public health will investigate and provide recommendations to school officials.
COVID-19 Bulletin #559 • January 26, 2022
Based on provincial data, public health officials are highlighting the following trends for the week ending Jan. 20:
- People who are not fully vaccinated are three times as likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, seven times as likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit and five times as likely to die with COVID-19. Case and risk by vaccination status data is updated each Wednesday here: https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/apps/manitoba-covid-19-cases-and-risk-by-vaccination-status/explore.
Manitoba continues to report on the recorded number of COVID-19 cases. However, it is important to note this data is limited and should be used with caution. It includes cases confirmed by a PCR test as well as rapid tests given by health-care professionals. Positive test results from rapid antigen tests, which people generally do at home, are not collected or reported. As a result, these numbers are an under-reporting of COVID-19 in the community.