Dispatchers volunteer

SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go lauded the second batch of medical frontliners from the Visayas who volunteered to work in hospitals and health care facilities in the National Capital Region (NCR). They heeded the senator’s appeal to volunteer in Metro Manila amid the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the region. “Maraming salamat sa inyong patuloy na pagmamalasakit sa ating kapwa Pilipino (Thank you for your continued expression of concern to our fellow Filipinos),” Go said in a video message. A ceremonial send-off was held in Cebu City on April 16 for 30 nurses from Central Visayas. Twenty of them were assigned to the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City while the rest will be deployed to the Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center. On April 8, the first batch of volunteers composed of 50 medical frontliners, including 11 doctors, 35 nurses and four medical technologists from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City and ... » Learn More about More health workers in Visayas deployed in NCR

We have been living in the nightmare created by COVID-19 for over a year. But the last month or so, said Jaime Almora, president of the Philippine Hospital Association, is “the worst nightmare of a hospital manager happening in reality.” Indeed, it is a nightmare not just for hospital administrators and the “soldiers” they field in battle—doctors, nurses, medical technologists, hospital aides, and attendants—but more so for the greater public they serve: their patients, their families, and people they have had to turn away. This is what the nightmare consists of: too many patients, too few beds, inadequate equipment and insufficient drugs, staff driven to exhaustion and despair, and families and communities reeling under the combined threat of a deadly disease and the hunger and despair following in its wake. With the Department of Health confirming that as of Monday 86 percent of ICU beds in the National Capital Region are occupied, which is also the case with 69 percent of ... » Learn More about What COVID-19 home care entails

Lockdown restrictions that have been restored three weeks ago are causing extended power plant outages that may result in supply shortage in Luzon despite lower power demand, according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP). “We continue to urge the authorities to look into this impending power situation in Luzon during this summer season,” NGCP said in a statement. “As the transmission service provider, NGCP can only guarantee the dispatch of all and any available grid resources. It cannot intervene on matters concerning power generation,” it added. The grid operator said the Luzon grid needed about 4 percent of the peak demand—about 475 megawatts (MW)—in regulating power to stabilize the grid. Also, NGCP needs to maintain power capacity at a level equivalent to the largest plant online—about 647 MW—as contingency supply to support the grid in case of an emergency power plant shutdown. “Once the net operating margin falls below these numbers, NGCP will issue grid ... » Learn More about NGCP warns of power supply shortage in Luzon

SINGAPORE - While Singapore's vaccine roll-out has been making good progress, the take-up rate for seniors aged 70 and above could be lower than for those who are younger because of factors such as mobility issues and lower digital literacy, said experts. Still, more seniors are expected to sign up for jabs in the coming months as more gain confidence in the vaccine after seeing their peers or family members go for it, they added. The experts were commenting on figures given in Parliament earlier this month which indicated that about 60 per cent of eligible seniors aged 70 and above had received the Covid-19 jab or booked their vaccination appointments. This is lower than the close to 70 per cent of eligible seniors aged 60 to 69 who have done so, although those aged 70 and above were the first in the general population to be eligible to receive the jabs. Assistant Professor Rahul Malhotra, head of research at Duke-NUS Medical School's Centre for Ageing Research and ... » Learn More about Covid-19 vaccine take-up rate for seniors in Singapore expected to rise: Experts

MORE than 100 tonnes of vegetables have been distributed to residents in the Ayer Hitam constituency in the past year to help lessen their financial burden. Ayer Hitam MCA division chief Ling Tian Soon said most of the recipients were from the B40 group as well as those whose income had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. “The distribution programme, called ‘Sayur Prihatin’, is part of our efforts to help the rakyat who are facing financial hardship due to the pandemic. “When the movement control order was imposed in March last year, our volunteers packed a variety of vegetables such as long beans, leafy greens, bitter gourd, brinjal and cucumber into bags. “The vegetables, along with other essential items, were then distributed door to door, including to Kampung Parit Hassan, Kampung Lam Lee, Kampung Sin Lik and Simpang Renggam prison. “Now that movement is less restricted, we have started a ‘market style’ giveaway by displaying the vegetables in baskets in front of the ... » Learn More about Vegetable donation drive to help Ayer Hitam folk

LIVING in densely populated flats with limited public spaces can be difficult for children. The local community can play a role by creating a safe area where they can socialise, and also act as a hub for learning. A group of volunteers at a community garden set up at AU2 flats in Taman Keramat, Selangor did exactly that. Head of the group, Halim Mohamad Saad said they collaborated with UCSI University, which received a RM8,000 grant from the Starfish Foundation, to build a small library in the community garden for the children. Working hand in hand with 25 students and eight lecturers from the university from Nov 23 last year, the 644sq ft library was completed on Dec 19. “Thankfully, many parties, including Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, (MPAJ), non-governmental organisation Global Environment Centre, private companies, local assemblymen and community members also contributed to the project, ” said Halim. He highlighted that local bookstores also gave 1,000 books suitable ... » Learn More about Library in community garden

SINGAPORE: Mr Tan Kah Heng had banked on his newly opened bubble tea shop to help pay for his younger son’s university education overseas. But his plan was derailed after two of his employees accused him of molesting them. After the two alleged victims filed police reports against him in late-2017, he found himself short on manpower and soon had to shutter the business. During his court trial, which began in October last year, Mr Tan struggled to find odd jobs, occasionally helping friends to deliver goods. The divorcee with two adult-age sons also went from renting his own room to staying with his older sister. He was eventually acquitted of eight outrage of modesty charges in February due to the employees’ unconvincing evidence — more than three years after the allegations surfaced. The 56-year-old now delivers flowers but has remained without a steady job. Mr Tan’s case underscores the challenges that many accused persons face while waiting for their day in court. The ... » Learn More about The Big Read: Accused persons get no sympathy but long proceedings are tough, more so on those not found guilty