457 COLLEGE STUDES IN PAMPANGA CAPITAL INOCULATED VS COVID-19

MABALACAT CITY—The health office in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga province has vaccinated 457 college students of a private school seeking to reopen in-person classes, the city government announced on Friday.

Although not mandatory, students of Our Lady of Fatima University in San Fernando underwent inoculation as part of the Commission on Higher Education’s drive to improve the chances for limited in-person classes in selected colleges and universities.

Our Lady of Fatima was among the schools that were cleared for physical classroom activities for medicine and allied medical degree programs, the San Fernando city government said in a social media post.

It said the university applied for in-person classes in other degree programs after Malacañang allowed real classroom interaction for courses in engineering and technology, hotel and restaurant management, tourism, marine engineering, and marine transportation.

As of Oct. 15, the city registered 21 new COVID-19 cases, 165 recoveries and a single death. Its active cases stood at 911.

San Fernando has recorded a total of 11,020 coronavirus disease cases since the pandemic began last year. Of these, 9,810 have recovered while 299 have died.

Zambales tightens curbs

In Zambales province, tighter quarantine restrictions were enforced due to a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, an official said on Friday.

As of Oct. 14, Zambales hospitals have been taking care of 576 active COVID-19 cases out of 9,331 infections logged since the pandemic struck in March 2020.

Zambales is under general

community quarantine with heightened restrictions from Oct. 16 to Oct. 31.

Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said movement would be restricted again except for members of households designated to access essential goods and services.

Ebdane said minors younger than 15 years old, elderly residents over 65 years old, pregnant women and those with health problems were again prohibited from leaving their houses.

He also imposed a provincewide curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

INFORMATION OFFICE —PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF SAN FERNANDO GETTING JABBED A medical student in a private school in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga province, is being inoculated against COVID-19 in the vaccination program for college students on Oct. 13.