Introduction: Cancer patients are more susceptible to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection because they are immunosuppressed by their disease or therapy, most of them have coexisting medical conditions, and they frequently visit hospitals for treatment and surveillance. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 infection among gynecologic oncology patients receiving treatment in a COVID-19 referral hospital. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study involving 47 gynecologic cancer patients receiving treatment from June 2020 to December 2020 was performed. All patients underwent SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab test and symptom and exposure assessment before the start of cancer treatment. Patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR swab test results received their planned treatment, and a repeat swab test and triage assessment were done midtreatment and after treatment. Results: Five (10.6%) patients had positive baseline SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR swab results, but all proceeded with treatment after negative results were obtained. Only 1 (2.13%) patient had a positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR swab test result at midtreatment. All patients had no COVID-19-associated symptoms and none of them tested positive for COVID-19 infection posttreatment. Conclusion The prevalence of COVID-19 infection among gynecologic cancer patients receiving cancer treatment is 2.13%. All patients who had positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR swab test results at baseline or midtreatment were able to continue and complete treatment. There were no severe clinical events or mortalities among those affected with COVID-19 infection.
COVID-19

The question, “what does life mean?" used to be considered as a paradigm of philosophical investigation. As a researcher, life is meaningless without paradigm and perspective. These are indispensable in peoples' lives as we encounter research in our daily lives. According to James Tartaglia (Veal, 2017), when properly defined, the topic of life's purpose is "the keystone of philosophy," serving to "lock its traditional preoccupations in place" and "allow them to bear weight in an intellectual culture dominated by science." He also contends that we should consider this idea as he rejects the premise of the question and draw the conclusion that "life is meaningless." More precisely, James Tartaglia is one philosopher who is not at all happy about it; in fact, he appears to be absolutely furious about it, as readers who have read this journal's recent symposium on Thaddeus Metz's book Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study would be aware. What enrages Tartaglia the most, it seems, is that the "traditional" topic of life's meaning has been completely disregarded by what he refers to as the "new paradigm" in analytic philosophy, which is purportedly devoted to exploring this question. He further states that the conventional question of life's purpose is not only the only genuine, legitimately philosophical inquiry of life's meaning, but it is also the most important one.
COVID-19

Introduction: Globally, COVID – 19 (SARS COV -2) became an enormous challenge with serious threat to the healthcare workers. This study aimed to provide the psychological coping mechanisms among healthcare workers in tertiary hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in the locale of Eastern Visayas. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the psychological coping mechanisms among healthcare workers in tertiary hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary objectives were to determine the demographic profile of health care workers as to: age, sex, civil status, profession and area of assignment, to identify the issues of concern that contribute to the mental or psychological stress affecting the healthcare workers, to identify the psychological coping mechanisms of healthcare workers to ease their stress and to determine the correlation between issues of concern and coping mechanisms to the demographic profile of the healthcare workers. Methods: Utilized a cross-sectional descriptive study with analytical component. Sample size of 142 was computed using the Epi Info 7 software with confidence interval of 95% and the margin of error of 5%. Descriptive analysis was utilized to identify the socio- demographic profile of HCWs and Pearson r tests in SPSS used in correlation to issues of concern and psychological coping mechanisms. Results: One hundred forty two healthcare workers were included in the study. Of these, almost all respondents belong to aged 20-39 (92.3%). Majority were female and single. As to profession, many were physicians and nurses while as to area of assignments, some in the COVID Ward (24.6%). As to issues of concern, the results showed moderately in physical issues (2.55), mental and emotional issues (2.12). With regards to coping mechanisms, appraisal- focused (adaptive –cognitive) (3.55), emotion- focused (3.50) and problem- focused (adaptive – behavioral) coping mechanisms (3.18) were all very important. The correlational analysis showed that issues of concern and psychological coping mechanisms experienced by HCWs were not significantly related or associated to their demographics profile. Conclusion Based on the findings, the appraisal- focused (adaptive – cognitive), emotion- focused and problem- focused (adaptive – behavioral) coping mechanisms were all very important coping mechanisms among HCWs. Demographic profiles were not significantly associated with issues of concern and psychological coping mechanisms of HCWs in a tertiary hospital during COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic has affected millions worldwide. Better understanding of COVID-19 in pediatric hematology-oncology patients in a resource-limited setting is crucial to improve care as the pandemic ensues. Objectives: This study describes the clinical profile and outcomes of pediatric hematology oncology patients with COVID-19 seen at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). Methods: A retrospective, descriptive review of pediatric hematology oncology patients with COVID-19 seen between March 2020 to March 2021 in PGH was done. Results: Forty patients were identified. Seventeen percent had non-malignant hematologic conditions, 40% had leukemias, and 42.5% had solid tumors. Fever and cough were the most common manifestations. Seventy-six percent were on treatment, 9% were newly diagnosed, and 7% were in relapse or disease progression. Fifty-five percent had mild COVID-19; 5% and 2.5% had severe and critical COVID-19, respectively. Thirty-seven percent were asymptomatic. Cancer-related therapy was placed on hold for most patients. There were two mortalities, none was due to COVID-19. Conclusion Results suggest that patients with hematologic and oncologic conditions have a mild course, with majority showing recovery from COVID-19. Delays in cancer-related therapy however, may contribute to disease progression and mortality.
COVID-19

Early into the pandemic, medical attention centered on the immediate need for intensive medical care of patients diagnosed to have coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). As more data emerged on the best medical care possible, attention was also given to the complications and long-term sequelae of COVID-19.
COVID-19

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has immobilized and impaired the operation of hospitals, clinics, and other health-care facilities leaving a plethora of patients and persons-at-risk in a more precarious position. Cancer patients were vulnerable to infections and complications due to the nature of the malignancy. Their caregivers were likewise predisposed to infection while taking care of them. This paper focused on determining the concerns of both gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) patients and their caregivers and identified possible factors of improvement in the delivery of essential cancer care. Objective: The objective of the study was to describe the different concerns of GTN patients and their caregivers during chemotherapy and other adjunctive treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Tertiary Government Hospital. Materials and methods: A qualitative type of research was employed in this research, for which an in-depth interview was used. A total of 12 respondents, 6 patients and 6 caregivers, were interviewed using a semi-structured pretested questionnaire. Results: Findings showed that infection with COVID-19, financial and logistical constraints exacerbated by the pandemic were the main concerns of both patients and caregivers. Other concerns recorded include change in their attending physician, survivability of the patient, and the availability of caregivers. Conclusions Despite the recorded apprehensions from the patients and caregivers, there was a general satisfaction in the delivery of health care at the Division of Trophoblastic Diseases due to the clarity in the follow-up and treatment schedules which have been optimized through the revised guidelines and protocols set by the division to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BACKGROUND: The practice of Unang Yakap or Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care (EINC) during the COVID-19 pandemic poses a safety concern with regards to a newborn’s exposure to their COVID-19 suspected mother. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe the experiences of COVID-19-suspected mothers and explore the factors influencing their decision to allow healthcare professionals to practice full EINC. Specifically, it aims to: 1) describe the experiences of mothers prior to, during, and immediately after delivery, and during postpartum care leading to their decision; and 2) explore the factors that influence the participant’s decision to practice EINC amidst the pandemic. METHODOLOGY: For this phenomenological case study, online interviews with nine (9) participants were conducted using a 13-item questionnaire describing their experience. Thematic analysis using the inductive and semantic approach was conducted to identify the common themes or factors. RESULTS: Of the nine (9) participants, five (5) experienced EINC, while four (4) did not. The COVID-19 status and the choice to undergo Unang Yakap were not a causal relationship. Two main influences, mother-related factors, and hospital-related factors, were identified and were found to have weight in decision-making. The mother-related factors include prior knowledge and perception towards EINC, COVID-19 status, personal beliefs, and information from social media; while the hospital-related factors are hospital facilities, hospital protocols, and HCW-patient relationship. CONCLUSION By delineating the different factors that influence mothers’ decisions, this study allows for the identification of possible bottlenecks in the practice of EINC, as well as effective and efficient means to encourage its practice.
COVID-19

Background: The global economy has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which proved to be more than a public health crisis. Volume and gross income have also declined in the health service sector including the diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy divisions of the radiology departments in other countries. Objective: This study determined the change in volume and gross income of the Radiology Department of a tertiary hospital which was designated as a COVID-19 referral center in the Philippines. Methodology: Monthly records of the profit centers of the Radiology Department were reviewed noting the volume and gross income one year before and during the first year of the pandemic. Results: Records were successfully retrieved for the volume of procedures and revenue for each profit center from one year before the pandemic (from March 1, 2019 to February 28, 2020) and the first year of the pandemic (from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021). There was a total reduction of 120,046 procedures conducted and Php 84,837,614.16 in revenues generated between the two periods. This is equivalent to a 61.98% (range: 47.92% to 83.37%) decrease in the volume of procedures and a 45.02% (range: 31.08% to 77.86%) decrease in revenue. These changes were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline of all profit centers in the Radiology Department. The decline was associated with changes in quarantine restrictions. Data from this study may help the administration of the institution or other institutions to conduct their own studies and cope with future pandemics of similar magnitude or further surges of the current pandemic on decisions regarding budget and resource allocation.
COVID-19

The Philippine COVID-19 Living Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) is a set of guidelines that provides up-to-date evidence-based recommendations on COVID-19 treatment, diagnosis, infection prevention and control. This living guideline follows the Department of Health’s Manual for Clinical Practice Guideline Development1 and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Approach.2 The diagram below is a summary of the treatment regimens gathered from the Philippine COVID-19 Living Recommendations website. The recommendation for each drug regimen is based on the assessment and literature review done by the Living CPG Task Force (LCTF).3 The LCTF follows the classification of quality of evidence enumerated and described in Box 1.
COVID-19

The Republic Act No. 11494, also known as the "Bayanihan to Recover as One Act," mandates the allocation of funds and provides guidance for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.1 However, with the limited availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the Department of Health (DOH) established different policies and guidelines for the selection, access, and deployment of these vaccines throughout the country.2 3 4 5 To date, the Philippine Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has granted emergency use authorizations for eight COVID-19 vaccines, namely: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, CoronaVac, Sputnik V, Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine, Covaxin, COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, and COVID-19 Vaccine BIBP/Sinopharm.6 One of the guidelines established by the DOH is the implementation of a prioritization scheme, wherein citizens are categorized into different prioritization groups based on risk of exposure to the virus and risk of mortality from COVID-19.4 In Davao City, the COVID-19 vaccination roll out started last 5 March 2021 among health care workers at Southern Philippines Medical Center. 7 Aiming to vaccinate 1,200,000 individuals in Davao City,8 the City Government of Davao, DOH Davao Region, and other participating sectors established 59 vaccination sites throughout the city.9 We gathered online data posted in the official facebook pages of DOH Davao Region and the City Government of Davao. According to the DOH Davao Region reports, as of 27 July 2021, a total of 742,710 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were allotted for Davao City. From the total allotted doses, the City Government of Davao City has successfully administered a total of 330,954 first doses, and 149,122 second doses of COVID-19 vaccines.10 According to the City Government of Davao, as of 25 July 2021, Davao City has administered a total of 85,260 doses (1st dose - 47,332 doses, 2nd dose - 37,928 doses) of COVID-19 vaccine among individuals in the A1 prioritization group, 103,837 doses (1st dose - 76,472 doses, 2nd dose - 27,365 doses) among those in the A2 prioritization group, 179,479 (1st dose - 101,833 doses, 2nd dose - 77,646 doses) among those in the A3 prioritization group, 98,502 doses (1st dose - 97,446 doses, 2nd dose - 1,056 doses) among those in the A4 prioritization group, and 12,998 doses (1st dose - 7,871 doses, 2nd dose - 5,127 doses) among those in the A5 prioritization group.11 All in all, as of 27 July 2021, 149,122 individuals out of Davao City's target of 1,200,000 individuals (12.43%) have received complete COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, 181,832 individuals have already received the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine.8
COVID-19