PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC CHIEF RESIGNS AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Wei Yingluo | NEWS EDITOR MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine economic planning secretary has resigned partly due to “differences in development philosophy” with some Cabinet members as the country scrambles to deal with the pandemic that’s setting back the economy. President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the resignation of Ernesto Pernia and designated Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua to temporarily replace him, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Friday. Pernia, who was appointed by Duterte to head the National Economic Development Authority after the president took office in mid-2016, was in charge of plans for economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. He has warned of social unrest if a massive lockdown in the main northern Luzon region, home to more than 50 million people, is extended indefinitely. Mr. Pernia, at his last cabinet attendance Ming Yu
Wei Yingluo | NEWS EDITOR GENEVA, Switzerland – The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Saturday, April 25, that there is no evidence that people who test positive for the new coronavirus are immunized and protected against reinfectionThe warning suggests that the issuance of “immune passports” may promote the continued spread of the pandemic.
“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” WHO said in a statement. “As of 24 April 2020, no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans.” Some governments, wanting a gradual return to work and the resumption of economic activity, have put forward the idea of issuing documents attesting to the immunity of people on the basis of serological tests revealing the presence of antibodies in the blood. But the effectiveness of an immunization thanks to antibodies has still not been established and the available
scientific data do not justify the granting of an “immune passport” or a “certificate of absence of risk”, warns the WHO. At this point in the pandemic, there is not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an “immunity passport” or “risk-free
certificate.” “People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice,” the WHO said. “The use of such certificates may therefore increase the risks of continued transmission.” WHO also believes that we“need additional validation to determine their accuracy and reliability”. In particular, the tests need to make it possible to distinguish the immune response to the novel coronavirus from the antibodies produced during an infection by another of the six known human coronaviruses, four of which are widespread, causing mild colds. “People infected with one or the other of these viruses are capable of producing antibodies which interact with antibodies produced in response to infection caused by SARS-CoV-2”, said WHO, empasising the importance of being able to identify them. 6706
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