ILOILO – Do you have vulnerable members at home? Isolate them, according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., to arrest the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Yesterday, Defensor issued a memorandum reiterating coronavirus detection and isolation at the household level.
He enjoined all local chief executives (LCEs), punong barangays, Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERTS), and local taskforces to strictly implement reverse isolation on vulnerable members at home.
Who are these vulnerable persons?
* senior citizens (60 year olds and above)
* pregnant women
* those with immunodeficiency, comorbidities, or other health risks
Minimum public health standards shall be observed such as wearing of facemasks, eating meals separately and using separate utensils, Defensor stated in Executive Order No.155-2021.
Household members should wear facemask in the presence of vulnerable persons, or when in areas in the house used or accessed by such vulnerable persons.
Vulnerable persons shall also have separate utensils and take their meals separate from other members of the household.
Households with resident vulnerable persons are discouraged from receiving guests, among other precautions.
The governor also encouraged vulnerable persons to stay at home and limit their movements to essential travel.
Reverse isolation also applies to residents who go out on a daily basis for work or other essential transactions and those who visit hospitals or healthcare facilities for outpatient treatment, he added.
Those staying for more than 24 hours in hospitals or healthcare facilities shall undergo 14-day reverse isolation upon returning home.
Also, LCEs may place them under facility isolation/quarantine if conditions in the house are not ideal for a seven-day home quarantine and reverse isolation.
Should the resident develop COVID-19 symptoms, he/she shall undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
If the resident is a COVID-19 confirmed case, he/she shall remain in isolation/quarantine and treated until recovered.
According to Defensor, local taskforces and BHERTs should identify and maintain a database of vulnerable persons in the barangay level and conduct intensified detection and isolation of COVID-19 suspect cases.
As of June 7, Iloilo had 1,842 active cases and 201 deaths, while the rest of the 8,684 cumulative confirmed cases have already recovered./PN
