COVID-19 New Corona

A countrywide quarantine curfew was declared from 10 p.m. yesterday till 4 a.m. on Monday 30th August under the instructions of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Speaking to the Daily News, Head of the National Operation Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak – Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said that this was a countrywide quarantine curfew and the decision was taken with a view to vaccinate all people above 60 years who are yet to get a Covid jab before 30th.

“The essential services, export industry and the agriculture sector that would be allowed to operate. All pharmacies are allowed to remain open during the period and all others have to remain closed. We don’t expect people to get onto the streets and they are strictly advised to remain at home.”

He said that even those with provisions to travel, such as persons engaged in essential services, should not misuse their facilities as this is a serious situation. “We appeal to the people to remain at home during this period and not venture out unless it is an absolute emergency or those engaged in essential services.”

The Army Commander also said that the President had issued directives to ensure that all those above the age of 60 are vaccinated and accordingly, the Army will launch a vaccination drive for all those above 60 years.

“As of yesterday, around 75% of those who died due to Covid are those above the age of 60. A majority of them are also those who have not received a single dose of the vaccine.”

Therefore, he said that the President had instructed all Government Agents to collect details of all those above the age of 60 and send these details before August 23 to the Army so that the Army could cooperate with them and implement a mechanism to vaccinate this vulnerable group. Facilities have been provided to register by calling 1906 hotline or the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO).

With regard to those who had already received the vaccination, the Commander said that over 12 million persons had been vaccinated with the first dose so far, which is almost 100% of the above 30 group. “We were supposed to vaccinate around 11.5 million, but some above the age of 30 and 60 had not received the vaccine. However, the 12 million vaccines were recorded because we also administered the vaccine to some below the age of 30 who were engaged in the export sector,” he said, adding that the Government’s aim is to ensure that all eligible citizens in the country have received both doses of the vaccine by mid-September.Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in Sri Lanka and the country has detected over 377,973 COVID-19 cases and over 6,790 deaths reported so far.The Director-General of Health Services on Thursday (19) confirmed another 186 coronavirus-related deaths and this is the highest number of deaths reported within a day since the beginning of the pandemic.President Rajapaksa has also advised the IGP to search for those who violate the quarantine curfew and strictly enforce laws against them. The President instructed the State Minister of Indigenous Medicine Promotion, Rural and Ayurvedic Hospitals Development and Community Health to take steps to provide indigenous medicines to the people in the rural and urban areas during this period.

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:02

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/local/257298/quarantine-curfew-facilitate-vaccination-over-60s

Biden may act against Governors opposing school mask mandates

Lucie Phillips, 6, and her brother David Phillips, 3, join parents and students during a rally at Utah State School Board Office calling for mask mandate in Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday.

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US: With a new US school year beginning, US President Joe Biden warned Governors who oppose student mask requirements that they could face legal action for intimidating educators seeking to protect children against COVID-19.

In the latest political flashpoint over the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican Governors in Florida and Texas, two of the country’s largest states, have rejected recommendations by health authorities to require that students wear masks when they return to the classroom.

Florida’s Board of Education raised eyebrows when it voted this week to slap punishments on two school districts that instituted mask mandates in defiance of Governor Ron DeSantis.

Biden did not mention DeSantis by name, but his comments in a White House address appeared squarely aimed at the governor, who is believed to harbor Presidential ambitions.

“Unfortunately... some politicians are trying to turn public safety measures -- that is, children wearing masks in school -- into political disputes for their own political gain,” Biden said. “They’re setting a dangerous tone.” - DNA INDIA

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257241/biden-may-act-against-governors-opposing-school-mask-mandates

New Zealand says it has solved COVID outbreak ‘puzzle’

New Zealand’s growing Covid outbreak which has sparked a nationwide lockdown was caused by a traveller returning from Australia who had been in hotel quarantine.

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NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand reported a breakthrough on Thursday in tracing the source of a Covid-19 outbreak that plunged the nation into lockdown, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying it should help “stamp out” the virus.

Health officials have been trying to determine how an Auckland man contracted the coronavirus this week, ending a six-month run of no community cases in New Zealand.

Tests showed the man had a version of the Delta strain found in Australia, and Ardern said investigations narrowed down the origin to a person who arrived from Sydney on August 7.

She said the traveller had been in quarantine and hospital since touching down, indicating the virus had not been in the community as long as initially feared.

“We believe we have uncovered the piece of the puzzle we were looking for,” Ardern told reporters.

She said finding the outbreak’s source also increased the “ability to circle the virus, lock it down and stamp it out”.

Case numbers grew by 11 overnight to a total of 21, she said.

Ardern ordered a three-day national lockdown -- New Zealand’s first in 15 months -- when the first case emerged on Tuesday, with Auckland and nearby Coromandel facing restrictions for a week.

“We’re all prepared for cases to get worse before they get better, that’s always the pattern in these outbreaks,” she said.

But she said there were grounds for cautious optimism “because we believe it wasn’t here for long before it was found”.

The infected traveller arrived from Sydney on a so-called “red zone” flight, arranged to bring back New Zealanders stranded when Wellington suspended a trans-Tasman travel bubble due to multiple outbreaks in Australia.

The person tested positive two days later and was hospitalised a week after that.Officials said it was still unclear how the virus spread into the community and 1,000 close contacts of positive cases were being assessed.

New Zealand has adopted a policy of eliminating the virus in the community, rather than containing it, which has resulted in only 26 deaths in a population of five million. - NDTV

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257239/new-zealand-says-it-has-solved-covid-outbreak-%E2%80%98puzzle%E2%80%99

Briton handed jail term in Singapore for not wearing mask

Singapore imposes strict rule on people violating COVID-19 measures.

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SINGAPORE: A British man was sentenced to six weeks’ jail in Singapore for not wearing a mask and harassing police, officials confirmed Thursday.

The city-state, which has had comparatively mild COVID-19 outbreaks, has taken a tough line against people breaking virus rules, and there have been several cases of foreigners being punished.

Benjamin Glynn was arrested after footage of him not wearing a mask on a train in May went viral.

The 40-year-old subsequently harassed police sent to arrest him, and refused to wear a face-covering during a court appearance last month.

According to reports, Glynn delivered a rant in court -- in which he described the proceedings as “preposterous” and “disgusting” -- and said masks were not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

This prompted the judge to order a psychiatric assessment, but Glynn was deemed fit enough for the case to continue.

On Wednesday, he was convicted for breaching COVID-19 rules, his behaviour towards police, and causing a public nuisance.

As he had already served two-thirds of his sentence on remand, Glynn was freed from prison Wednesday and will be deported, according to local newspaper the Straits Times.

Convicts in Singapore can be freed for good behaviour after serving two-thirds of a jail term.

In May, nine Britons were banned from working in Singapore after breaking coronavirus rules while partying on a yacht in Santa hats.

In June last year, four British men were similarly banned after going on a pub crawl in a breach of curbs. - AFP

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257237/briton-handed-jail-term-singapore-not-wearing-mask

India administers over 571 m COVID vaccine doses

A health worker inoculates a COVID-19 vaccine in New Delhi, India.

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INDIA: India had administered at least 571 million Covid vaccine doses by Thursday, August 19. Meanwhile, by 7pm on Thursday, 571,671,264 vaccine doses were given across the states and UTs. As many as 4,884,440 doses were administered on the day. Of this, 3,635,752 beneficiaries were vaccinated with the first dose and 1,248,688 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine.

In the 18-45 age group, 2,666,831 were given the first dose while 601,437 doses were given as the second dose on the day. Cumulatively, 211,311,218 persons in this age group across the country have received their first dose and 17,943,325 have received their second dose since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 10 million vaccine doses in the 18-45 years age group. Also, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have vaccinated more than 1 million beneficiaries of the age group with the first dose.Kerala has administered at least 25 million doses till now, said the state health minister Veena George. “Kerala has administered 25,520,478 doses. Of these, 18,682,463 were given the first dose and 6,838,015 were given the second dose.

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257236/india-administers-over-571-m-covid-vaccine-doses

Efficacy of Pfizer shot wanes faster than AZ’s - Study

All COVID-19 vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use listing have been through randomized clinical trials to test their quality, safety and efficacy.

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UK: Two doses of Pfizer shot have greater initial efficacy against a new infection, but this declines faster compared with two doses of the Oxford jab. The efficacy of these two vaccines may be similar after 4-5 months, the study suggests. However, researchers say long-term effects need to be studied.

The effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine appears to decline faster than that of the Oxford-AstraZeneca (AZ) jab, according to a new study involving over 350,000 people in the UK, which was published early on Thursday.

The study by researchers of University of Oxford is based on the results of a survey by UK’s Office for National Statistics that carried out RT-PCR tests from December last year to this month on randomly selected households.“Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech have greater initial effectiveness against new Covid-19 infections, but this declines faster compared with two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca,” the researchers at Oxford University said. The team is not linked to the group that developed the vaccine. The same vaccine is used as Covishield in India, where it is the mainstay of the inoculation drive.

The study found that “the dynamics of immunity following second doses differed significantly” between Pfizer and AstraZeneca, according to the university’s Nuffield Department of Medicine. Pfizer had “greater initial effectiveness” but saw “faster declines in protection against high viral burden and symptomatic infection”, when looking at a period of several months after full vaccination, although rates remained low for both jabs.“Results suggest that after four to five months, effectiveness of these two vaccines would be similar,” the scientists added, while stressing that long-term effects need to be studied.

- INDIA TODAY

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257235/efficacy-pfizer-shot-wanes-faster-az%E2%80%99s-study

Booster shots targeting SARS virus may help fight COVID-19 variants

Researchers and health officials have been monitoring the real-world performance of COVID-19 vaccines to see how long protection lasts between vaccinated people.

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US: People who were infected with SARS in 2003 and recovered are able to produce antibodies that can potentially neutralise all known COVID-19 variants of concern, scientists have found.

The findings, published in The New England Journal Of Medicine, could pave the way for the development of a booster jab, which may involve targeting the SARS-CoV-1 virus responsible for the SARS epidemic in 2003, the Strait Times reported.

A team from the Duke-NUS medical school and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), found that the antibodies can also tackle other potential animal coronaviruses, offering a broader spectrum of protection for future variants and coronaviruses.

Among the coronavirus family, one viral sub-group relies on the ACE2 molecule — a protein found on the surface of many cell types — to enter human cells. Neutralising antibodies are able to prevent the viral spike protein from binding with the ACE2 molecules in human cells.

“Both SARS-CoV-1 and the SARS-Cov-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, belong to this group, as well as a number of coronaviruses circulating among animals such as bats, pangolins and civets,” Professor Wang Linfa from the Duke-NUS Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) programme was quoted as saying.

“Collectively, this group of viruses is known as the sarbecovirus, which has the potential to jump from animals to humans, and could start the next pandemic, although the exact route of transmission still remains unknown,” he added.

The SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 viruses, and the sarbecoviruses have similar antibody-binding sites, which can be targeted by a pan-sarbecovirus neutralising antibody to prevent infection.

For the study, the team recruited eight people who recovered from SARS-CoV-1, 10 healthy people and 10 people who recovered from Covid-19 and compared the immune response of the three groups before and after they were vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

- THE STATESMAN

Saturday, August 21, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/21/world/257234/booster-shots-targeting-sars-virus-may-help-fight-covid-19-variants

India in talks to buy 50 mn doses of Pfizer vaccine: Report

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India is in talks to buy 50 million doses of Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Pfizer and the Indian health ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments. The drugmaker has not yet sought permission for use of its vaccine in India.

The country, which rolled out one of the world’s largest vaccination drives earlier this year, has been relying heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India and a home-grown shot produced by Bharat Biotech. Authorities are also in an advanced stage of negotiations with Johnson & Johnson, which has a deal with India-based Biological E. Ltd, to manufacture as many as 600 million doses, starting as soon as this month, the Journal reported.

Last week, the country approved J&J’s one-shot vaccine for emergency use, adding to the vaccines from AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech, Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and Moderna, that have been granted such approval.

(www. indiatimes.com)

Wednesday, August 18, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/18/world/256932/india-talks-buy-50-mn-doses-pfizer-vaccine-report

Third Wave looms in India

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In the state of Maharashtra, one of the first places struck by India’s devastating second wave of Covid-19 earlier this year, scientists are anxiously looking for signs of a third.

New laboratories in the financial capital, Mumbai, and in the city of Pune are searching for dangerous new variants. They have stepped up testing, to over 3,600 samples per month from 134 in December last year, as they search for mutations that could make the virus even harder to stop.

India is still far short of its goal to increase genome sequencing nationwide. While Covid-19 cases and deaths have plunged, according to official numbers, the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country. A low vaccination rate and other factors have left India especially vulnerable to variants like Delta, the strain that helped power India’s second wave this past spring.

“We need to track new variants to prepare ourselves for the next wave because waves will keep happening, much like the flu or common cold, which keep recurring because the virus mutates or recombines,” said Dr. Vinod Scaria, the principal scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi. “You can’t really prevent that. But you can always be prepared for it.”

The second wave, which exploded across the country in April and May, exposed both the Delta variant’s increased communicability and India’s inability to cope. Official figures show that about 430,000 people have died since the virus hit early last year, though the numbers are widely considered unreliable and experts say the true toll may be in the millions. The second wave pushed the country’s medical system past its limits and led to anger over the government’s inability to handle the crisis. (NYT)

Wednesday, August 18, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/18/world/256931/third-wave-looms-india

New Zealand under lockdown again

NZ PM Jacinda Ardern

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New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a nationwide lockdown after the country confirmed one coronavirus case -- the first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in the community since February.

Ardern told a press conference Tuesday authorities were assuming it was the contagious Delta variant, although genome sequencing is still underway.

An unvaccinated 58-year-old man in the country’s largest city Auckland tested positive for the virus. The man had traveled to other parts of the country, and had an obvious link to the border, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said Tuesday.

New Zealand will be under the strictest level lockdown level for the next three days starting from 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, local time, Ardern said. Under level four lockdown, everyone must stay home and businesses are closed aside for essential services such as supermarkets and pharmacies.

New Zealand was last under its most serious lockdown level a year ago, Ardern said.

Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula -- an area of the country’s North Island where the patient traveled -- are likely to be under a level four lockdown for a week.

“We are one of the last countries in the world to have the Delta variant in our community,” Ardern said. “We’re in the position to learn from experience overseas, and what actions work, and what actions don’t work.”

“Delta has been called a gamechanger -- and it is. It means we need to again go hard and early to stop the spread. We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance.”

New Zealand has been praised for its handling of the virus, which saw it close borders to almost all foreign nationals early, and impose strict state-run quarantines on incoming travelers.

That approach has seen it avoid the devastating outbreaks seen in other countries, and, prior to Tuesday’s announcement, life in the country had largely returned to normal. New Zealand has reported fewer than 3,000 Covid-19 cases and only 26 deaths in a population of about 5 million.

But New Zealand has been slow to vaccinate. According to data collated by CNN, New Zealand has fully immunized less than 20% of its population.

Neighboring Australia, which was also previously praised for its handling of the virus, has been battling its own Delta outbreak for the last few weeks. More than half of Australia’s population are in lockdown -- and the country’s most populous city Sydney has been in lockdown since June.

Earlier this month, New Zealand announced plans to begin reopening its doors to vaccinated travelers from low risk countries from early 2022, signaling a tentative relaxation of strict pandemic border controls.

(CNN)

Wednesday, August 18, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/18/world/256930/new-zealand-under-lockdown-again

Over 300,000 adults still to receive vaccine - Prof. Jayasumana

Local

Subhashini Senanayake

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Galle Central Special Correspondent

State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana yesterday said that more than 300,000 adults aged 60 and over of the country’s population have not received even a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

He said that if adults over the age of 60 years have not obtained the COVID-19 vaccination, they should go to a place convenient to them and get the vaccination.

He emphasized that most of the COVID-19 deaths reported in this country are of adults who have not been vaccinated even with one dose. The State Minister said that if adults have not got the COVID-19 vaccination yet, family members should encourage them to do so. He also said that if there are people with special needs, special facilities have been provided so that they can get the vaccination.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 01:04

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/17/local/256867/over-300000-adults-still-receive-vaccine-prof-jayasumana

Quarantine regulations reinforced to prevent COVID-19 spread - SDIG Ajith Rohana

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Certain quarantine regulations have been reinforced from yesterday to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Police Spokesman Senior DIG Ajith Rohana said.

He noted that public events such as weddings and seminars etc. have been temporarily banned in order to prevent people congregating. “However, the registration of marriages could be carried out with the participation of just the bride and groom, parents of both parties, Marriage Registrar and the two witnesses,” he explained. A quarantine curfew has been enforced from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting from yesterday (16).

The Police will also be conducting frequent patrols and surveillance operations to monitor the situation.

Therefore, the Police Spokesman added that the public is kindly requested not to conduct any public events and to adhere to the quarantine curfew and refrain from getting on the streets during that time.

Further, members of essential services and their vehicles could move around during the quarantine period but the Police may request for their relevant documents to prove they have the approval to be on the streets during the quarantine period.

He also said that the provincial restriction order remains as it is and no one would be allowed to cross borders under any circumstances, except persons engaged in essential services.

“We have road blocks in place, motorcycle patrols and foot patrols at the entry and exit points of each province. Therefore, everyone should obey the quarantine orders and cooperate in order to bring the pandemic under control,” the Police Spokesman appealed to the public.

SDIG Ajith Rohana also said that they had received information on illegal movements of the public and sometimes some persons had used public transport up to the border of each province, cross the border and take public transport to the next province. Therefore, he said that stern action would be taken against such persons who illegally cross provincial borders and special police teams have been deployed to monitor the situation in uniform and plainclothes to gather information regarding such persons. He also said that 253 persons had been arrested for violation of quarantine laws such as not wearing face masks and social distancing etc. In total 54,612 persons have been arrested since October 30, 2020 to date. In addition, 2,411 persons and 1,220 vehicles had been checked at the entry and exit points to the Western Province, while 479 persons have been sent back and 361 vehicles have been turned back disallowing them to cross borders without a valid reason.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 01:05

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/17/local/256866/quarantine-regulations-reinforced-prevent-covid-19-spread-sdig-ajith-rohana

Twenty nine Galle Police officers COVID-19 positive

Local

Mahinda P. Liyanage

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Eight Police officers attached to the Galle Police have been infected with the COVID-19 virus and 29 Police officers have been quarantined at their homes, Galle Police sources said.

A Chief Inspector of the Galle Divisional Crime Investigation Division, two Sub Inspectors of Police, a PC and a WPC are among those who have tested positive for the virus.

Twenty nine associates of these officers serving in various divisions of the Police have been referred to quarantine. A Police Sergeant attached to the Galle Police has also died of COVID-19.

The deceased Police Sergeant had received the first dose of COVID vaccination in July. However, he had been admitted to the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital with fever.

There he was diagnosed with the virus and succumbed at the hospital. The activities of the Galle Police are being carried out as usual and officers are being called for service in duty shifts, Galle Police sources further disclosed.

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/17/local/256864/twenty-nine-galle-police-officers-covid-19-positive

‘No jab, no job’, Fiji’s civil servants told

Fijians register to get the COVID-19 vaccine in the capital Suva.

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FIJI: A “no jab, no job” COVID-19 policy went into effect in Fiji on Sunday, with unvaccinated public servants forced to go on leave as the Pacific nation joined a number of countries in imposing similar mandates.A stubborn outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant that started in April ended a yearlong spell of no community transmission of COVID-19, and has overwhelmed Fiji’s healthcare system with more than 40,000 cases.

The Government has argued that mandatory vaccinations are necessary to raise immunisation rates and end the outbreak.

After a period of forced leave starting Sunday, Fiji’s public servants who remain unvaccinated by November will be dismissed.In addition, employees at private firms could face fines and companies could be forced to stop operations over vaccine refusals.

Legal expert and former head of the Fiji Human Rights Commission Imrana Jalal said other countries had mandated compulsory vaccinations in various critical sectors, but not on the sweeping scale imposed in Fiji.

The Government has dismissed the lockdown option because of its high economic cost and rising poverty in the nation of 930,000.With more than 24,000 still-active cases and 358 deaths, its resources are stretched as military-style field hospitals handle the overflow of patients -- especially after the virus swept through densely populated squatter settlements. - INDIA TODAY

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 01:00

source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/08/17/world/256802/%E2%80%98no-jab-no-job%E2%80%99-fiji%E2%80%99s-civil-servants-told

Philippines detects first case of Lambda variant

Service delivery riders queue to get the Covid-19 vaccine in a shopping mall’s parking lot turned into a drive-thru vaccination site in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

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