(Eagle News) — Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año appealed to the public to cooperate with the government’s Oplan Kalinga program that aims to transfer to isolation centers the COVID-19 infected persons who have no capability to self-isolate inside their homes.
He made the appeal amid the spike in virus cases especially in Metro Manila.
Ano said that it is the duty of the government to prevent further spread of the virus which will also be for the good of the community.
“Ito po ay tungkulin ng inyong pamahalaan sa ating mga mamamayan na naaayon sa batas lalo na ngayong panahon ng krisis at kayo ay lumalaban sa isang pandemia. Makipagtulungan po tayo sa gobyerno dahil ang kapakanan at kalusugan ng buong komunidad na ang nakasalalay,” the Department of Interior and Local Government chief said.
He said health workers will only visit homes of people who have tested positive and not do “house-to-house searches” as portrayed in some reports.
He decried as fake news information claiming that the police would be leading the visits. It is the health workers who would be the primary frontliners to go to the homes of persons found to be positive with COVID-19 under the government’s Oplan Kalinga program, he said.
Año stressed that the transfer to COVID Ligtas Centers or isolation centers of COVID-19 patients is “urgent and necessary not only to closely monitor and treat them but also for good of the community.”
“This move is plainly to ensure that COVID-19 patients will be attended to and that they will not spread the virus to their families and the community,” he said.
-Allaying fears about Oplan Kalinga-
Amid fears about Oplan Kalinga, Año explained that the COVID-19 patients would be better cared for in the isolation centers. This wil also prevent further transmission of the virus to their loved ones.
“Kapag nasa Ligtas Centers sila, mas mababantayan at maaalagaan sila doon at higit sa lahat, maliit na ang chance na maikalat nila ang virus sa kanilang pamilya,” Año said.
Año emphasized that coronavirus patients will be brought to Ligtas Centers as a precautionary measure to curtail transmission and most importantly, to ensure that they are well taken care of as these isolation centers are equipped to handle their medical needs as opposed to practicing home quarantine.
Not all households will be visited by the team headed by the Local Epidemiological Surveillance Units (LESU) of local government units, “but only those listed in those COVID positive in the community.”
“Hindi po natin uubusin ang oras ng ating LESU sa pag-isa-isa ng mga bahay ng mga tao. Ito po ay fake news. Tanging yung mga na-test po na positive na kasama sa kanilang listahan lamang at hindi makakapag-comply sa minimum requirement para payagang makapag-home quarantine ang ating dadalhin sa mga Ligtas Center,” he said.
-Standards for home quarantine-
A person is allowed to do home quarantine if he has a separate room where the patient can be confined; if the patient has his own comfort room; and if he is not living with people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 such as senior citizen and immune-compromised individuals, among others, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.
He described as “fake news” reports that police would conduct a military style “house to house search” of COVID-19 patients doing self-quarantine at home.
COVID-19 patients should not fear being placed under a COVID-19 Ligtas facility as all their needs, including their food will be provided for, he said.
“Ito ang siguradong paraan para mabantayan natin at matalo natin ang virus na ito,” Año said.
Government officials believe that most of the virus spread was due to the ineffective and incorrect procedures related to home quarantine, especially in homes where the infected persons have no separate rooms and toilets.
This has led to more COVID-19 cases.
As of July 16, COVID-19 cases in the country ballooned to more than 61,000 with the addition of almost 2,500 cases — mostly from Metro Manila — in the just one day.
The Philippine capital is still under General Community Quarantine with the option for local government units to do localized lockdowns.
(Eagle News)
