[ad_1]
BETTER CARE The Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, says that explaining to the public the benefits of mandatory isolation for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases will make patients understand that they will receive better care in quarantines. —RICHARD A. REYES
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) acknowledged on Wednesday that the government’s forced isolation policy for COVID-19 patients could work against its response to the coronavirus pandemic, as it could cause people to hide. your health or refuse to be tested.
But Health Undersecretary María Rosario Vergeire said the matter could be resolved by explaining to the public the benefits of the policy.
“First of all, you don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to hide your symptoms. If you go to a temporary treatment and monitoring center, you will be cared for there. There he will be better monitored and will be able to avoid infecting his family, ”Vergeire said at an online press conference.
The patients stay in the isolation center for 14 days and then go home to their families, he said.
Self-isolation prohibited
On September 24, the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary government body that oversees the administration’s coronavirus response, issued a resolution prohibiting self-isolation and requiring that even mild COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic are quarantined.
The exceptions are patients with other diseases who have the capacity for home isolation and who live in places where local governments do not have adequate quarantine centers.
But a multi-sector group appealed to the task force Tuesday to allow COVID-19 patients without other illnesses and who have the ability to self-isolate to be exempted from the enforced quarantine rule.
According to the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19, the policy would encourage the concealment of information, which would go against the government’s efforts to trace contacts.
Vergeire said the group’s concern was a possibility and that it was discussed during a working group meeting.
“The experts were there and [said this was] one of the downsides or something that might happen [if we implemented] this. But this is necessary and we just have to explain it to people, ”he said.
Minimum health standards
Vergeire also said DOH is not opposed to reopening the economy, as long as people adhere to minimum health standards.
“We need to learn to live with the virus,” he said, emphasizing that if people follow the health rules, “we can open any sector” of the economy.
On Wednesday, the DOH reported 2,426 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 311,694.
Metro Manila accounted for the majority of new cases identified by 136 accredited laboratories, 887, followed by Cavite (201), Rizal (147), Negros Occidental (115) and Batangas (99).
The DOH said 585 more patients had recovered, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 253,488. The death toll, however, rose to 5,504 with the death of 58 more patients.
That left the country with 52,702 active cases, of which 86.4 percent were mild, 9.0 percent asymptomatic, 1.4 percent severe, and 3.2 percent critical.
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare leaders and still accepts cash donations to be deposited into the Banco de Oro (BDO) checking account # 007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link .
Read next
EDITOR’S SELECTION
MOST READ
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
