Medical kits for Cebu City residents in isolation pushed

With the rise of COVID-19 cases in Cebu City, a city councilor wants the city government to provide medical kits to patients who are under quarantine or home isolation.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council urged the Executive Department to provide medical kits to residents especially those who are in quarantine or isolation.

Councilor Nestor Archival, the minority floor leader, filed a resolution that would request the City Health Department (CHD), Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) to provide the medical kits.

The kits should contain thermometers, medicines, vitamins, monitoring sheets, emergency contact numbers of hospitals, and health instructions that could help treat mild Covid cases and other flu-like symptoms.

“The Medical Core Kit could help the doctors who are using the telemedicine platform in properly assessing and monitoring the patients. Further, it could help lessen the number of people going to hospitals and avoid congestion of our medical facilities,” said Archival.

This request of the City Council also came in time for the surge of the COVID-19 cases and the allowing of home isolation for residents whose homes qualify.

A home may qualify for isolation or quarantine if it has a separate room with access to a bathroom where the patient can stay for the duration of the isolation.

Yet, for Archival, this also poses a new problem that those in home isolation may not be aware of what to do while they recover from the virus.

“There is a need to be properly guided on what to do, how and what medicines should be taken when an individual is already experiencing COVID-like symptoms or whether we are already suffering mild. moderate, severe, or critical COVID stage,” he said.

He notes that countries like the United States, Canada, European countries, and Singapore are giving out self-testing kits for their residents. Baguio City is set to launch an easy-to-use COVID-19 home testing kit to allow its residents to check on their condition whenever they need to.

Aside from medicine and other equipment, the kit must also contain instructions on the isolation and how to recover.

The City Council approved the resolution and has furnished a copy to Mayor Michael Rama in hopes that this will be implemented.       /rcg

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