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Sunlight destroys coronavirus quickly, says US agency

© MANDEL NGAN US President Donald Trump listens to Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Science and Technology William Bryan speak during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus The new coronavirus is quickly destroyed by sunlight, according to a new study announced by a senior US official on Thursday, offering hope that its spread may ease over the summer. William Bryan, science and technology advisor to the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told reporters at the White House that government scientists had found ultraviolet rays had a potent impact. "Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, both surfaces and in the air," he said. "We've seen a similar effect with both temperature and humidity as well, where increasing the temperature and humidity or both is generally less favorable to the virus." He then showed a slide summarizing

‘Worst yet to come’

Malacañang on Wednesday agreed with the assessment of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the worst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic “is yet to come.” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte consulted with health experts because he believed that the threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic were far from over. “We take seriously the remarks of World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the ‘worst of the coronavirus 2019 is yet to come.’ We further agree with the WHO chief’s assertion that ‘it’s a virus that many people still don’t understand,’” Roque said. “It is for this reason that President Duterte has been in consultation with experts across different sectors on how to best address the Covid-19 situation in the country,” he added. On Monday, Duterte consulted with different health experts in Malacañang to help him decide if the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) should be lifted, modified or e

Duterte threatens martial law declaration

© Malacanang photo President Rodrigo Duterte presides over a meeting of the IATF on the April 30 enhanced community quarantine. MALACANANG PHOTO President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to declare martial law to eradicate the outlawed New People’s Army (NPA). Duterte, in a taped address aired Friday morning, made the comments in the aftermath of claims from the military that communist rebels blocked the aid intended for Samar amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Maybe I will declare martial law. Ikaw na NPA, numero uno, hinaharang ang tulong sa tao, pati supply. I am putting out a warning to the Armed Forces, police, I will declare martial law, there will be no turning back,” Duterte said. “Kung ano ang martial law na gagawin ko, akin lang iyan. Pinagpapapatay niyo ang sundalo at pulis na walang ginawa kundi samahan ang nagdedeliver ng pera. Pagka inutos ko sa kanila, lahat na, tapusin na natin ito sa panahon ko. Two more years. Magtago na kayo, p*t*ng*n*ng legal front,”

Duterte extends enhanced community quarantine in NCR, 7 other 'high-risk' areas

© Malacanang photo President Rodrigo Duterte presides over a meeting of the IATF on the April 30 enhanced community quarantine. MALACANAN PHOTOS President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the enhanced community quarantine to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and CALABARZON until May 15. Duterte's decision was announced by presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a televised briefing on Friday morning. Duterte also accepted the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases to extend until May 15 the ECQ in similarly high-risk areas Pangasinan, Benguet, Mindoro island, Albay and Catanduanes. The Chief Executive also announced the imposition of an ECQ until May 15 in Panay, Cebu and the Davao provinces. These are also considered high-risk in connection with the spread of COVID-19 Duterte said regions, provinces or areas which are considered moderate- and low-risk in the spread of COVID-19 will be placed u

80% of Filipinos satisfied with gov’t response to Covid-19: poll

MANILA – The majority of Filipinos have expressed satisfaction with the Duterte administration’s response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, according to the survey results released by global polling firm Gallup International Association. Based on the April 6 to 8 poll, around 80 percent of Filipinos believed the government is handling the Covid-19 crisis “well”. Only 18 percent expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s Covid-19 response, while two percent were ambivalent on the matter. President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the whole island of Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), requiring people to observe strict home quarantine and limiting their movement to accessing basic necessities. Duterte, however, has yet to decide on the possible total lifting, modified lifting, or another extension of the Luzon-wide ECQ, which is set to lapse on April 30. Other local chief executives in Visayas and Mindanao have also imposed an ECQ

Why Some People Get Sicker Than Others

© Jeremy Leung The COVID-19 crash comes suddenly. In early March, the 37-year-old writer F. T. Kola began to feel mildly ill, with a fever and body aches. To be safe, she isolated herself at home in San Francisco. Life continued apace for a week, until one day she tried to load her dishwasher and felt strangely exhausted. Her doctor recommended that she go to Stanford University’s drive-through coronavirus testing site. “I remember waiting in my car, and the doctors in their intense [protective equipment] coming towards me like a scene out of Contagion ,” she told me when we spoke for The Atlantic ’s podcast Social Distance . “I felt like I was a biohazard—and I was.” The doctors stuck a long swab into the back of her nose and sent her home to await results. Lying in bed that night, she began to shake, overtaken by the most intense chills of her life. “My teeth were chattering so hard that I was really afraid they would break,” she said. Then she started to hall