So cases are going up, but deaths are low

The good news: The increase in the rate of covid infections in Manila is slow, and it is predicted that peak infections will be reached soon and the numbers will fall.

the bad news: cases are surging in the more rural areas in Luzon.

One caution: maybe the testing numbers aren't accurate because of lack of testing facilities. 

and, as the priest/Physician I cited earlier noted, a lot of folks who are mildly ill and just staying home, self treating, and not getting tested, so the actual numbers are probably higher.

This is especially true for us in the rural areas, which are now in the midst of a covid like epidemic and in shutdown.

Churches are again closed in our area, which is under lockdown again.

they were vaccinating about a thousand people a day in the Plaza nearby, but now the mayor said he will start vaccinations by barangay (neighborhood) because of the long lines.

We still mask, but suddenly the face shields are not being used.

But what is new is that to go into shops or banks you need a vaccine card. No problem.

But unlike last year, we are not hearing stories of people critically ill with covid and the fear level is down.

 this is today's covid count:

COVID-19 CASES BREAKDOWN (PH) (as of 01-15-22 ) 

NEW CASES 39,004 

ACTIVE CASES 280,813 

TOTAL CASES 3,168,379 

RECOVERIES 2,834,708 

hmmm... what is missing from that data?

Maybe this?

January 15 (GMT)

Updates

• 39,004 new cases and 43 new deaths in the Philippines [source]

wait a second: maybe that is just a fluke of statistics.

Jan 14 37,070 new cases and 81 new deaths

Jan 13 33,917 new cases and 80 new deaths in the Philippines 

Jan 12 32,000 new cases and 144 new deaths in the Philippines 

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The top three causes of death in the country from January to September of 2021 were ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and cancer.

and the average number of deaths per month in the Philippines is about 50 000.

and we are also seeing heart attacks and strokes in our area, and I suspect a lot of them are happening because people can't afford their medicine for high blood pressure and diabetes. Also we have had a few deaths from cancer. 

Usually we hear about covid deaths when they happen with young people: nurses, business people, etc. and last year a we had a dozen such health people who died, but so far this year, none. 

There have been kids sick with some sort of respiratory illness, but they are young kids, toddler age group, so it's probably RSV, a wicked chest infection that is mainly seen in toddlers. 

we have one or two people a day coming here for money to be seen for "heart attack" or because they are in labor. 

The main difficulty is that with Covid, the beds are fewer to treat them, so that often means either a private hospital or to go to the larger hospital in the next town. 

But if Grannie or Grandpa is a semi invalid or has cancer, often they will die at home, as my husband chose to do: so they will have family with them. 

To put all of this into perspective: the average death rate in the Philippines is about 50 thousand deaths a month.

so anyway: we are again in quarantine until the end of the month.

So far, people trust Duterte, so that there is no anger at our leaders as we see in the USA, or in the UK (Neil Oliver is mad at Boris for partying while people can't visit their dying relatives).

Maybe one difference is that here is that people die at home... and when they go into the hospital, the family goes with them.... when Joy's father was in ICU after a major stroke, they allowed one fully vaccinated person to stay with him, receiving meals and having a chair to sleep in.

So the families are staying intact and helping each other. Because the first line of defense against poverty is the family.

 But the lockdowns and the economic problems from unemployment are getting worse, and in the future, I worry about food prices soaring... the price of fertilizer has sky rocketed, and now diesel is up, meaning higher prices to plant and process rice.

and rumors that China is hoarding food suggest they worry about this too.

as for the latest surge: Chinese news can't be trusted, and the news from here might not be accurate since mild cases weren't tested, but it is interesting that in Japan where things are stricter, they have also had a huge surge 25,000 cases, but few deaths (6).

Covid just doesn't kill most people who get it, which makes me wonder when I read of huge numbers of Covid deaths in the USA.... not only a very high number, but we are now seeing articles saying the actual deaths due to the covid epidemic were much higher than reported, since untreated diseases, suicides, overdoses etc. are all increased due to the shutdown.

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update: This Inquirer article reports on random testing of commuters suggests that we have at least a million cases of active covid in Manila.

but they still plan to insist you have a vaccine card to travel on public transportation, which some groups object to, noting it discriminates against the poor.

But if so many have covid, doesn't that mean the vax cards are worthless for stopping the spread? Ah but the DOH is following the US clueless idea that being vaxxed means never to say you are sorry. you are covid free... duh