Año: Improper home quarantine a problem

THE “improper” home quarantine of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients is behind the rise of positive cases in the country, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Sunday.

In an interview on CNN Philippines, Año described as a “big problem” the practice of isolating at home Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic and those experiencing mild symptoms.

Such patients must be brought to isolation facilities, he said, explaining that home quarantine would only spread the virus to fellow family members.

Last month, Año suggested Oplan

Kalinga, a project in which police officers would bring persons with symptoms and confirmed patients to quarantine facilities.

His suggestion was shot down by critics, who said it was unnecessary for policemen to check from house to house and could expose even them to Covid-19.

According to Año, 73 percent in Laguna are under home quarantine and most of these houses were too small, which he said could result in more infections.

In an interview with reporters, he said some local government units had failed to conduct “aggressive isolation interventions” in their areas.

Ano warned local government units down to the small villages to initiate actions that would prevent home infection.

In the town of Pateros, Año said a total of 120 Covid-19 patients were under home quarantine and “almost all” of them had been transferred to quarantine facilities “by this time.”

He also predicted that the number of positive cases would drop within the week because of the reimposition of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

“For me, I believe this week, we will feel [the MECQ imposition]. Cases would slowly go down and the important thing is, we need to be focused on what we are doing, on how we are going to enforce the MECQ,” he said.

He noted what the national government did in Cebu City when a stricter quarantine measure was imposed to stem the continuous rise in cases.

According to Año, intervention from village officials, the private sector, military and health workers brought down the number of cases in the Queen City of the South.

The same approach must be used in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna, all under MECQ.

“Now, the National Task Force [Against Covid-19] is very busy. Everyday, we are travelling to those LGUs to check on the actual situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, a senior military officer with Covid symptoms died at the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) V. Luna Medical Center in Quezon City.

The officer’s medical reports have yet to be released.

The official died on August 6, according to Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, the AFP spokesman.

“We have yet to receive official medical reports that would reveal the cause of death other than the erstwhile symptoms suggest Covid-19,” he added.

Vice Adm. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the officer was a Philippine Navy captain (the equivalent of a full colonel in the Army and Air Force). He also confirmed that the officer tested positive after he was swabbed.

Bacordo said the officer first went to the Manila Naval Hospital in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, where he was given medications to bring down his fever, but he was “unresponsive.”

He was transferred to the AFP Medical Center in V. Luna.

The official, Bacordo added, already had comorbidities before contracting the virus.