Confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Negros Oriental are now on a downward trend, a key health official of the province said on Tuesday afternoon. In a virtual presser, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, Covid-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said the surge in cases experienced over the past several weeks has now slowed down. “The highest number of positive cases before the MECQ was 2,500 plus, and today we only have 1,538. So, that’s a big difference of about 1,000,” she said in English

Demand for office space will be closer to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021 with the expected conclusion of 330,000 square meters (sqm) of live requirements, according to Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC). In a virtual press briefing Tuesday, LPC director Mikko Barranda said office take-up could reach 500,000 sqm. to 600,000 sqm. level by year-end with the signing of these pipeline of transactions with developers. “Last year, the number was 380,000 (sqm) so we are looking to almost double that assuming that things progress at the same pace but we are confident given that the economy is now opening

The National Transmission Corp. (Transco) is studying the possibility of remitting all of its 2020 net earnings to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) as its dividend contribution to help fund the government’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response programs. In a letter to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Transco president-chief executive officer Melvin Matibag said the state-run firm will secure the approval of its board to comply with Dominguez’s directive on increasing the dividend remittance of the firm for 2020 to 75 percent of its net earnings. Matibag said Transco is even open to contributing 100 percent of its net

Youth and civic organizations will mark the 40th day of the passing of college and national football player Kieth Absalon and his cousin Nolven by way of a nationwide cycling event dubbed “Bike for Justice and Peace” on July 17. Undersecretary Joel Sy-Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson, announced the activity on Monday during a virtual press conference. “On July 17, bikers from all over the country will gather in their respective provinces to participate in the Bike for Peace and Justice for

The country is preparing for the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Vaccine Trial, as the letter of agreement (LOA) was already signed by the Department of Health (DOH) and WHO, an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said Tuesday. “The LOA indicates the support and participation of the Philippines in the trials, to determine the most effective Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines suitable for the Filipinos, and the effective number of doses,” said DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara in a briefing. The study also aims to determine which among the Covid-19 vaccines could provide the longest protection,