CEBU CITY, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) in Cebu have been tasked to form a monitoring team for the 2019 novel coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD) in their localities.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a meeting with the Mayors at the Capitol today, Feb. 6, 2020, said the 2019-nCoV ARD monitoring teams will be tasked to facilitate the home quarantine of arriving passengers at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) from China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Home quarantine is one of the options of the arriving passengers who are either Filipino citizens or foreigners who are carrying a Philippine permanent residency visa.
Because of their travel history to China or its administrative regions, the arriving passengers are considered us persons under monitoring and are subjected to 14 days of mandatory quarantine, either at home or in a Department of Health-designated facility.
DOH Central Visayas Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas, during the meeting, said home quarantine is an alternative option considering the limited facility that the province and the DOH have for the arriving passengers.
DOH and the Capitol earlier identified Eversley Child’s Sanitarium and General Hospital in Mandaue City, the province-owned Women and Children Development Center in Lahug, Cebu City and a facility supposedly for drug-dependent rehabilitation in Pinamungajan.
The mayors, who would head their respective monitoring teams, shall identify one point person who will regularly coordinate with the Provincial Task Force Quarantine Team in the MCIA for possible referrals for home quarantine.
The monitoring team will be tasked to inspect the household where the arriving passenger would be quarantined to check if it qualifies under the quarantine protocols set by Garcia’s Executive Order issued last Monday, Feb. 3.
Among the requirements for home quarantine under the protocols is the availability of a separate room where the person will be isolated. No children below 10 years old or elderlies beyond 60 years old should also be in the same residence.
“[The monitoring team should] notify the Quarantine Team within 4 hours from inspection of its assessment on whether or not the residence of the PIHQ (person identified for home quarantine) is compliant with Section 6 of EO no. 5,” the memorandum reads.
The household should also have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, face masks, and disinfectants.
Garcia also announced the disbursement of P500,000 to each of the 44 towns and 7 cities of the province for the purchase of the PPEs.
Garcia said the mayor should direct barangay captains to assign barangay tanods to secure the vicinity of the household if it qualifies to be a venue for home quarantine.
The local police chief shall also assign personnel to ensure that the PIHQ remains isolated.
Presuming full compliance with the protocols set by the EO, Garcia said, is the way to ensure that the quarantine method will be effective even as they resort to hoe quarantine. /rcg