MANILA, Philippines — Barangays will be vital in stopping the spread of COVID-19 by tracking down virus carriers in the communities.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that barangay health emergency response teams (BHERT) would be the first responders, pointing out, “They are the ones who know the residents in their barangays particularly those coming from countries with positive cases and now we have local transmission.”
In an interview aired on Monday over dzMM, Año pointed out, “Now that the [COVID-19] positive patients have been identified, the barangay health emergency response teams to identify those who associated with these positive cases who need to be brought to the Department of Health referral centers if they have symptoms.”
According to the interior secretary what the BHERTs would be closely watching out for are constituents with severe acute respiratory infections “because they could test positive [for COVID-19] if the infection continues and if they have a history of association with carriers.”