DUBAI: The Philippine national capital region will implement longer curfew hours when it shifts to an enhanced community quarantine on Friday, as a precaution to rising infections of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Movement limits in Metro Manila would be in place between 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., from the current curfew hours of 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., after a unanimous decision from mayors, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairperson Benhur Abalos said in a press briefing on Monday.
Metro Manila is currently under general community quarantine with ‘heightened and additional’ restrictions but will shift to ECQ, the strictest status, from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20 due to the threat of rising COVID-19 cases fueled by the Delta variant.
The shift to the strictest quarantine mode means indoor and al fresco dining would be disallowed and businesses and costumers can only have take-out and delivery services.
Indoor sports venues and tourist attraction would be closed, but outdoor tourist spots, as defined by the Department of Tourism, may continue to operate, but at a 30 percent capacity.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. earlier said the two-week lockdown may be sufficient to reduce the COVID-19 caseload in Metro Manila.
Metro Manila residents such as Emmanuel S. Geslani says they are comfortable with the impending lockdown, and are preparing for it by stocking up on medicines and food.
“The Delta variant is really worrying because we do not know who (among those in public) have it,” Geslani told Arab News.
“So it is better [to implement the lockdown] as a precaution against it.”
Jaime Mendoza, a government nurse, meanwhile told Arab News that coronavirus transmission could be controlled only if there would be strict monitoring in the porous borders between cities.
“There should also be strict compliance among the residents, whose livelihood have been affected by the pandemic.”
Infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana, said in a social media post that “the lockdown was preemptive response to Delta and is premised on an accelerated vaccination program to get as many people vaccinated as possible.”
“We recommended putting many areas in the country under ECQ when Delta started showing up in July, areas that were already for escalation anyway because of increasing HCUR and other parameters,” according to Salvana, who is among selected experts working with government to address the coronavirus pandemic.
“The biggest objective of this impending ECQ is to vaccinate as many people as possible in NCR. We are only tempering the anticipated increase in Delta to protect as many people as possible.”
Philippine national capital region to implement longer curfew hours as COVID-19 precaution
https://arab.news/2ndmv
Philippine national capital region to implement longer curfew hours as COVID-19 precaution
- Metro Manila is currently under general community quarantine with ‘heightened and additional’ restrictions but will shift to a stricter one on Friday
Britain needs ‘AI stress tests’ for financial services, lawmakers say
- Lawmakers urge AI-specific stress tests for financial firms
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdogs are not doing enough to stop artificial intelligence from harming consumers or destabilising markets, a cross-party group of lawmakers said on Tuesday, urging regulators to move away from what it called a “wait and see” approach.
In a report on AI in financial services, the Treasury Committee said the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England should start running AI-specific stress tests to help firms prepare for market shocks triggered by automated systems.
The committee also called on the FCA to publish detailed guidance by the end of 2026 on how consumer protection rules apply to AI, and on the extent to which senior managers should be expected to understand the systems they oversee.
“Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I do not feel confident that our financial system is prepared if there was a major AI-related incident and that is worrying,” committee chair Meg Hillier said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’
A race among banks to adopt agentic AI, which unlike generative AI can make decisions and take autonomous action, runs new risks for retail customers, the FCA told Reuters late last year.
About three-quarters of UK financial firms now use AI. Companies are deploying the technology across core functions, from processing insurance claims to performing credit assessments.
While the report acknowledged the benefits of AI, it warned the technology also carried “significant risks” including opaque credit decisions, the potential exclusion of vulnerable consumers through algorithmic tailoring, fraud, and the spread of unregulated financial advice through AI chatbots.
Experts contributing to the report also highlighted threats to financial stability, pointing to the reliance on a small group of US tech giants for AI and cloud services. Some also noted that AI-driven trading systems may amplify herding behavior in markets, risking a financial crisis in a worst-case scenario.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the focus on AI and would review the report. The regulator has previously indicated it does not favor AI-specific rules due to the pace of technological change.
The BoE did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier told Reuters that increasingly sophisticated forms of generative AI were influencing financial decisions. “If something has gone wrong in the system, that could have a very big impact on the consumer,” she said.
Separately, Britain’s finance ministry appointed Starling Bank CIO Harriet Rees and Lloyds Banking Group ‘s Rohit Dhawan as “AI Champions” to help steer AI adoption in financial services.
