Three year post-lockdown plan

[Mike J]

I cannot believe this plan will work for the Philippines, maybe not for any country.  Public transportation for example would continue to have social distance.  There was already a shortage of public transportation even before covid.   This plan would basically reduce the spaces on existing public transportation between 1/3 and 1/2 if the social distance remains in effect.  Schools would only be able to admit a portion of the students because of social distance.   Impact on the workforce would be somewhere between onerous and impossible.  Maybe I am a pessimist, but I just do not see this as a workable solution.   FYI, the article refers to House Bill 6623.  I googled that bill and it does not seem at all related to what is written in this article.  Maybe a wrong bill number?

https://www.rappler.com/nation/259239-house-bill-require-face-mask-physical-distancing-after-lockdown

MANILA, Philippines – Ranking members of the House of Representatives have filed a bill that would institutionalize new norms of physical distancing in public spaces – like the wearing of face masks – even after the lifting of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte led other House leaders in filing House Bill No. 6623 or the New Normal for the Workplace and Public Spaces Act of 2020 on Tuesday, April 28.

Under the “new normal” bill, Filipinos would be required to wear face masks and practice physical distancing of at least one meter while in public places nationwide. Temperature checks would also continue, while handwashing and sanitizing stations would be set up in strategic areas in public spaces.

Mass testing of the population, including establishing drive-through, phone-in, and other non-contact modes of COVID-19 testing, is also listed under the “universal and mandatory safety measures” section of HB 6623.

The proposed measure also seeks the continuation of efforts to procure COVID-19 test kits and personal protective equipment, to put up more testing laboratories and quarantine facilities, and to trace individuals who tested positive.

To stay updated on news, advisories, and explainers, check out our special coverage page, “Novel Coronavirus Outbreak.”

The government would also be tasked to implement a “planned schedule” for pedestrians traveling from their homes to their workplaces and back, including the provision of transportation to ferry them to their destinations.

The bill would also make it mandatory for different government agencies to create digital governance mechanisms for their services.

HB 6623 would also institutionalize some enhanced community quarantine restrictions or regulations on public gatherings and public transportation.

A technical working group composed of the secretaries of the several national government agencies would be created to craft the implementing rules and regulations for HB 6623.

It would once again fall on local government units’ (LGUs) shoulders to implement locallized policies in implementing applicable provisions of the proposed measure.

The joint oversight committee formed by the 18th Congress would be responsible for scrutinizing the proper implementation of HB 6623.

If passed into law, provisions of the new normal bill would be valid for at most 3 years or earlier, depending on President Rodrigo Duterte’s final declaration guided by recommendatoins of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases.

What will happen to public transportation? HB 6623 would allow the resumption of operations of public transportation except for motorcycle taxis, which would still be suspended.

Physical distancing has to be observed inside public transportation vehicles as well as in queuing and ticketing areas. Passengers would be required to santize their hands before boarding the vehicle.

Operators and drivers would also have to implement a non-contact payment system to lessen the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Agencies running transport hubs like airports, ports, and harbors may consider implementing mandatory temperature checks, quarantine measures, thorough sanitizing and disinfection, and even rapid COVID-19 testing of passengers. Employees may be regularly checked for possible infection as well.

Will classes continue? Not yet under HB 6623. Classes and school activities would remain “suspended until further notice,” but this is subject to changes upon the recommendations of the Department of the Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

Autonomous institutions of higher learning would still have freedom to run their academic affairs, provided that no student would be “unreasonably penalized” for their inability to participate in online classes.

HB 6623 would direct all public and private schools to prioritize establishing electronic learning platforms.

Floor plans of schools would also have to follow the physical distancing protocol.

The national government would be tasked to fund research and develop systems for learning continuity in times of crisis.

Sangguniang Kabataan officials, meanwhile, would be expected to run information drives and to serve as a channel to monitor students’ grievances on academic requirements.

What rules will be required in workplaces? The national government and local government units (LGUs) would have to maintain a database profiling all private businesses in the country.

Business owners would need to submit a “New Normal Workforce and Workplace Management Plan” to their respective LGUs before they would be allowed to resume operations.

The food and beverage industry would be allowed to continue their takeout and delivery services. Dine in services would be “gradually” reintroduced, but there should be a two-meter distance between tables.

Buffets and salad services need to be temporarily discontinued as well.

Customers would have to be provided with alcohol-based wipes, touchless soap dispensers, disposable menu booklets and utensils.

For commercial stores and centers like shopping malls, boutiques, supermarkets, and banks, their managements would need to set a maximum number of people who could enter the premises. They would be asked to promote online transactions and implement cashless payment methods.

For offices in buildings, there must be a limit set for the number of people entering elevators and more vending machines should be opened instead of operating cafeterias.

Companies would also be discouraged from holding physical meetings and instead resort to online methods of communication.

Salons, parlors, and spas would be allowed to operate again, but personnel would be required to use face masks and gloves. They should also frequently wash their hands and sanitize their tools.

The Senate is yet to file a similar version of the House’s new normal bill. HB 6623 would need to go through 3 separate readings in both the House and the Senate before Duterte can sign it into law.

The 18th Congress is currently on break and will resume session on May 4. Lawmakers will likely resort to teleconferencing to deliberate and pass bills.

Who are the authors? HB 6623 is authored by the following House leaders:

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Taguig City-Pateros 1st District
Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, Camarines Sur 2nd District
Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte, Davao City 1st District
Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, Antique
Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Leyte 1st District
House committee on appropriations chair Eric Yap, ACT-CIS,
House committee on public accounts chair Mike Defensor, Anakalusugan
House committee on good government and public accountability chair Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, Bulacan 1st District

[Arizona Kid]

27 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I cannot believe this plan will work for the Philippines, maybe not for any country.  Public transportation for example would continue to have social distance.  There was already a shortage of public transportation even before covid.   This plan would basically reduce the spaces on existing public transportation between 1/3 and 1/2 if the social distance remains in effect.  Schools would only be able to admit a portion of the students because of social distance.   Impact on the workforce would be somewhere between onerous and impossible.  Maybe I am a pessimist, but I just do not see this as a workable solution.   FYI, the article refers to House Bill 6623.  I googled that bill and it does not seem at all related to what is written in this article.  Maybe a wrong bill number?

https://www.rappler.com/nation/259239-house-bill-require-face-mask-physical-distancing-after-lockdown

MANILA, Philippines – Ranking members of the House of Representatives have filed a bill that would institutionalize new norms of physical distancing in public spaces – like the wearing of face masks – even after the lifting of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte led other House leaders in filing House Bill No. 6623 or the New Normal for the Workplace and Public Spaces Act of 2020 on Tuesday, April 28.

Under the “new normal” bill, Filipinos would be required to wear face masks and practice physical distancing of at least one meter while in public places nationwide. Temperature checks would also continue, while handwashing and sanitizing stations would be set up in strategic areas in public spaces.

Mass testing of the population, including establishing drive-through, phone-in, and other non-contact modes of COVID-19 testing, is also listed under the “universal and mandatory safety measures” section of HB 6623.

The proposed measure also seeks the continuation of efforts to procure COVID-19 test kits and personal protective equipment, to put up more testing laboratories and quarantine facilities, and to trace individuals who tested positive.

To stay updated on news, advisories, and explainers, check out our special coverage page, “Novel Coronavirus Outbreak.”

The government would also be tasked to implement a “planned schedule” for pedestrians traveling from their homes to their workplaces and back, including the provision of transportation to ferry them to their destinations.

The bill would also make it mandatory for different government agencies to create digital governance mechanisms for their services.

HB 6623 would also institutionalize some enhanced community quarantine restrictions or regulations on public gatherings and public transportation.

A technical working group composed of the secretaries of the several national government agencies would be created to craft the implementing rules and regulations for HB 6623.

It would once again fall on local government units’ (LGUs) shoulders to implement locallized policies in implementing applicable provisions of the proposed measure.

The joint oversight committee formed by the 18th Congress would be responsible for scrutinizing the proper implementation of HB 6623.

If passed into law, provisions of the new normal bill would be valid for at most 3 years or earlier, depending on President Rodrigo Duterte’s final declaration guided by recommendatoins of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases.

What will happen to public transportation? HB 6623 would allow the resumption of operations of public transportation except for motorcycle taxis, which would still be suspended.

Physical distancing has to be observed inside public transportation vehicles as well as in queuing and ticketing areas. Passengers would be required to santize their hands before boarding the vehicle.

Operators and drivers would also have to implement a non-contact payment system to lessen the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Agencies running transport hubs like airports, ports, and harbors may consider implementing mandatory temperature checks, quarantine measures, thorough sanitizing and disinfection, and even rapid COVID-19 testing of passengers. Employees may be regularly checked for possible infection as well.

Will classes continue? Not yet under HB 6623. Classes and school activities would remain “suspended until further notice,” but this is subject to changes upon the recommendations of the Department of the Education and the Commission on Higher Education.

Autonomous institutions of higher learning would still have freedom to run their academic affairs, provided that no student would be “unreasonably penalized” for their inability to participate in online classes.

HB 6623 would direct all public and private schools to prioritize establishing electronic learning platforms.

Floor plans of schools would also have to follow the physical distancing protocol.

The national government would be tasked to fund research and develop systems for learning continuity in times of crisis.

Sangguniang Kabataan officials, meanwhile, would be expected to run information drives and to serve as a channel to monitor students’ grievances on academic requirements.

What rules will be required in workplaces? The national government and local government units (LGUs) would have to maintain a database profiling all private businesses in the country.

Business owners would need to submit a “New Normal Workforce and Workplace Management Plan” to their respective LGUs before they would be allowed to resume operations.

The food and beverage industry would be allowed to continue their takeout and delivery services. Dine in services would be “gradually” reintroduced, but there should be a two-meter distance between tables.

Buffets and salad services need to be temporarily discontinued as well.

Customers would have to be provided with alcohol-based wipes, touchless soap dispensers, disposable menu booklets and utensils.

For commercial stores and centers like shopping malls, boutiques, supermarkets, and banks, their managements would need to set a maximum number of people who could enter the premises. They would be asked to promote online transactions and implement cashless payment methods.

For offices in buildings, there must be a limit set for the number of people entering elevators and more vending machines should be opened instead of operating cafeterias.

Companies would also be discouraged from holding physical meetings and instead resort to online methods of communication.

Salons, parlors, and spas would be allowed to operate again, but personnel would be required to use face masks and gloves. They should also frequently wash their hands and sanitize their tools.

The Senate is yet to file a similar version of the House’s new normal bill. HB 6623 would need to go through 3 separate readings in both the House and the Senate before Duterte can sign it into law.

The 18th Congress is currently on break and will resume session on May 4. Lawmakers will likely resort to teleconferencing to deliberate and pass bills.

Who are the authors? HB 6623 is authored by the following House leaders:

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Taguig City-Pateros 1st District
Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, Camarines Sur 2nd District
Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte, Davao City 1st District
Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, Antique
Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Leyte 1st District
House committee on appropriations chair Eric Yap, ACT-CIS,
House committee on public accounts chair Mike Defensor, Anakalusugan
House committee on good government and public accountability chair Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado, Bulacan 1st District

If you have a better solution..I would love to hear it.

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 4/28/2020 at 5:07 PM, Arizona Kid said:

If you have a better solution..I would love to hear it.

Yes, I do. Stop quoting the whole long post which is not necessary.

[Dave Hounddriver]

On 4/28/2020 at 2:07 AM, Arizona Kid said:

If you have a better solution..I would love to hear it.

"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. ... In On the Origin of Species, he introduced the phrase in the fifth edition published in 1869, intending it to mean "better designed for an immediate, local environment".

That's a cut and paste, but the solution is to let people decide for themselves what they will do.  Put the information out there about how to avoid getting sick and dying then open the floodgates, stack the bodies of the "Darwin Award" winners and get this over with.  If oldtimers like me want to hide away in the house and live longer then we will play computer games while we self isolate and we will do that.  The rest of the world can do what it wants.  We've all been told of the consequences now let's use our brains what we want to do next.

[Jack D]

2 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

We've all been told of the consequences now let's use our brains what we want to do next.

Do we really know ALL of the consequences yet? Even those infected (who survive) may be facing a myriad of still to be determined long-term effects.

What We Know About the Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

COVID-19 might affect the brain stem

“Some of the data that we’re getting now from the China studies, one study that was just published Trusted Source in JAMA Neurology showed that 36.4 percent of patients had neurologic issues,” said Dr. Sheri Dewan, neurosurgeon at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Illinois. “One of the review articles that came out at the end of February discussed the possibility of virus traveling into the olfactory neurons, through the olfactory bulb, and into the brain.”

Dewan said one theory was that COVID-19 can affect the medulla oblongata (the brain stem), which controls our cardiorespiratory system. “So in that way, it’s not only related to the lungs, where the patients can’t breathe properly, but also the medullary neurons that control our breathing are also affected. This is one of the first articles pointing that out.”

But she emphasized that there isn’t enough data available to know what the long-term consequences of this could be. Dewan said it might be helpful to look at what is known about the damage to this area.

“It’s really difficult to say right now without data, however, patients that have stroke in the medulla, take the virus out of it and look at damage to the medulla — some of those patients will actually end up needing long-term tracheostomies to breathe,” she explained. “But we don’t know with the data that’s coming out, and some of the data from China is not necessarily comprehensive, but time will tell what the long-term effects will be.”

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-we-know-about-the-long-term-effects-of-covid-19

[Dave Hounddriver]

39 minutes ago, Jack D said:

Do we really know ALL of the consequences yet?

We do not know ALL the consequences of shutting all over 65s in their homes with no timetable to let them out but that didn't stop anybody. 

What consequences you ask?  Some of them would be increase in spousal abuse, increase in depression, obesity leading to heart disease.  But there may be many more consequences if they are shut in for 3 years.

[AusExpat]

Or it could all just go away one day as has been postulated....

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/28/covid-19-turning-out-to-be-huge-hoax-perpetrated-b/

[jimeve]

22 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

What consequences you ask?  Some of them would be increase in spousal abuse, increase in depression, obesity leading to heart disease.  But there may be many more consequences if they are shut in for 3 years.

There's no way I'll tolerate being shut in my house for 3 years.

[scott h]

28 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

But there may be many more consequences if they are shut in for 3 years.

here a few. Most of Pres D's cabinet is over 60. I think all the supreme court is. The CEO's of most corporations are. (this was all in the newspaper today)

but I will really hurt the domestic tourism industry also...…….over 60s also have the most disposable income. 

[Mike J]

33 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

We do not know ALL the consequences of shutting all over 65s in their homes with no timetable to let them out but that didn't stop anybody. 

I have read "articles" about the bill, but I have not been able to find an actual copy of the bill.  This is the first mention of a three year shutin for seniors.  Anyone have a source that mentions seniors?  Better yet, would be a copy of the proposed bill itself, but there is none listed on the government website for the 18th session.