The mixed method study documented how journalists negotiated 鈥渢he impact of COVID-19 coverage on their mental health鈥� through surveys and in-depth interviews uncovered how journalists balanced doing their jobs and trying to avoid contracting the dreaded disease and possibly infecting their loved ones. Only 47% of the interviewed journalists in the Philippines and Malaysia said they were given protective gear, and some experienced companies鈥� refusal to cover the cost of testing鈥攕omething that the Philippine government strictly required especially during the time when vaccines were not yet available.

Exposure to the virus was not the sole source of mental health strain, though, as the sustainability of the journalism outfits was also a concern鈥攅specially in the Philippines. With the Philippines counted as one of the countries with the strictest mobility restrictions, lockdown-induced business losses forced community newspapers to close. Journalists likewise juggled both in-person and virtual news coverage, resulting in heavier workload and the need to always be ready to report.

Salvosa and Esguerra are academic researchers of the Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities. Salvosa is a co-adviser of the Varsitarian and is the incumbent Chair of the Department of Journalism.

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In a chapter entitled 鈥�,鈥� the three scholars pointed out that the 鈥渟pread of misinformation, amplified on social media and other digital platforms, is proving to be as much a threat to global public health as the virus itself.鈥� Rumors, hate speech, conspiracy theories, and orchestrated deception campaigns have collectively led to the 鈥渓arge-scale contamination of the public sphere,鈥� the scholars averred, relating to the 鈥渋nformation disorder鈥� now present.

The Philippine context was investigated alongside those of Malaysia and Pakistan while utilizing the risk journalism framework of the Global Risk Journalism Hub. Common among interviews with journalists are the observations of an 鈥渋ncreasingly fractious, populist, and polarized political environment鈥� in which extremist views of vaccination, promotion of treatment without scientific evidence, and lack of digital literacy leading to the belief in conspiracy theories were among the findings.

The article is part of the new book Ecologies of Global Risk Journalism, published by Routledge in 2024. Salvosa is the incumbent Chair of the new Department of Journalism, and he serves as Co-Adviser of the Varsitarian. Both are academic researchers of the Research Center for Culture, Arts, and the Humanities.

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The study, co-authored by fr. Austriaco with Mary Chelsea E. Diego and Red Lazaro of the Department of Biological Sciences, Angus White of Providence College – USA, and Allan Paola L. Almajose of the Department of Chemical Engineering, adapted a susceptible-infected-recovered model to help vaccinators administer the needed COVID-19 deterrent and arrest the spread of the disease. The model targeted the National Capital Region as the main focus area of widespread vaccine distribution to mitigate viral transmission, which was high in the capital, while the rest of the archipelago can first focus on medical frontliners, senior citizens, and adults with comorbidities.

The study, entitled 鈥�,鈥� was published in the Philippine Journal of Science and helped the Philippine government in distributing limited vaccine supply to the sectors who needed it most.

The NRCP Gabay Award is given annually to active NRCP members whose research works have resulted or translated to adopted technologies and policies; or have informed local and national policy-making.

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The study described the influence of COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, practices, and health literacy on the level of pandemic fatigue of Filipinos living in the community. Results revealed that Filipinos have a moderate level of pandemic fatigue. COVID 19 attitude negatively influences pandemic fatigue, while knowledge on COVID 19 directly influences health literacy, attitude and practices. Moreover, health literacy affects COVID 19 attitude and practices. Positive attitude and health practices can create measures to prevent pandemic fatigue. Therefore, development of evidence-based programs and measures focusing on enhancing their COVID-19 knowledge and health literacy to change their attitude towards the COVID-19 pandemic will be beneficial in preventing or alleviating pandemic fatigue in the community.

The international conference was participated by students, graduate students, and professionals from different health discipline聽 virtually and in-person from different countries.

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In an interview with the Communications Bureau, the newly appointed Acting Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Engineering recalled how the technology for which he was awarded, the Logistic Indoor Service Assistant (LISA) robot was developed: 鈥淭he development鈥as made in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic last March 23, 2020鈥to provide] an affordable telepresence robot that can be easily developed, deployed, and used by health care workers to communicate with patients and deliver small items such as medicine.鈥�

Using a tablet attached to its pole-like body, the LISA robot enabled a contactless interaction between the patient and the health care workers. Moreover, like a remote-controlled toy car, it can be guided at will to deliver items.

Bautista recalled the urgency to 鈥渟ource out any existing robotics components that were available in the robotics laboratory鈥� in order 鈥渁ccomplish [the] huge task of inventing units of LISA robots.鈥� The effort has received support from the 色鸡导航, and additional funding was provided by the national government through the Department of Science and Technology.

Bautista now belongs to the lineage of the notable Thomasian scientists who have previously received this award, namely Dr. Anabelle V. Briones (2020; for Applied Science Research), Dr. Jonel Saludes, PhD (2020; for Basic Science Research), Prof. Maribel Nonato, PhD (2016; for Basic Science Research), Prof. Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, PhD (2015, for Basic Science Research), and Prof. Maria Natalia Dimaano, PhD (2011, for Applied Science Research).

Gregorio Y. Zara was a notable Filipino engineer and physicist whose main contribution was the first two-way electronic videophone, which later on would be a significant channel of communication.

This convention was organized by NAST and PHILAAST.

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The team of Professor Pia Marie S.P. Albano, PhD, Inst. Reuel M. Bennett, Dr. rer. nat., Asst. Prof. Nikki Heherson A. Dagamac, Dr. rer. nat., and Asst. Prof. Maureen B. Sabit, PhD, are conducting clinical validation studies funded by MiRXES (Singapore), in collaboration with UST and Singapore Diagnostics (Makati).

The use of the kits, specifically those using saliva samples, will eliminate the need for swabbers, thereby reducing time for the testing and the possible spread of infection, since the patients can self-collect the samples. According to the group, should the kits pass all validation tests, it can later 鈥渟erve as a cheaper alternative to gene sequencing to track mutations that can impact the effectiveness of vaccines.鈥� Albano, the lead proponent of the study, said that apart from confirming whether patients are Covid-19 positive or not, the positive samples can be analyzed for mutations, which 鈥渃an identify the variants of concern.鈥�

Albano disclosed that while the kits were already tested using 鈥渃ontrived samples,鈥� further validation in clinical and community settings were required. They are thus 鈥渞ecruiting at least a thousand participants to see the kits鈥� diagnostic performance.鈥� If found to be viable, the group and MiXRES will apply for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which will allow the commercial distribution of the kits across India and Southeast Asia later on.

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In the article, Albano and her co-authors noted how the Philippines was able to expand its testing capacity from a single national reference laboratory, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, to 鈥渕ore than 100 licensed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and cartridge-based PCR laboratories around the country.鈥� However, this situation entailed the hiring of additional personnel who 鈥渉ave limited experience and technical knowledge and skills of molecular assays,鈥� making the process vulnerable to diagnostic errors that can compromise patient safety and public health policy.

The authors grouped their suggestions into two major categories: specimen handling and analytical issues. While the authors noted that the demand for tests increased exponentially, resulting in manpower and resource constraints, the adherence to recommended testing protocols cannot be done away with. Among these protocols are proper infection control in laboratories and among personnel, who must regularly conduct disinfection. The authors likewise reiterated the need to adhere to World Health Organization and Department of Health guidelines in order to ensure reliability of test results.

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