kaMANILA, Philippines – Local government units have been asked by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to stop spraying people with disinfectant to avoid more health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, misting people who are not wearing personal protective equipment (PPEs) might cause more harm than good and may add on to the government’s burden.
He also cited a Department of Health (DOH) advisory, aimed at preventing the exposure of people to misting and limit it to frontliners working in hospitals.
“The most important thing is we continue to adapt as we discover new knowledge about COVID-19 — for example, that disinfection misting does not help against it. That’s why we discourage the LGUs from using it within their jurisdiction,” Año said, speaking partly in Filipino.
However, Año clarified that misting could still be done on surfaces and inanimate objects like vehicles and other surfaces.
Recently, videos were uploaded online showing misting for cars. While the practice of spraying people has stopped, others feared that people, including police officers — especially those who are not wearing PPEs — are still exposed.
“The DOH said to just exclude people, but objects can be [sprayed]. So we are following that advisory,” Año said.
“We do not want to cause our citizens any harm as we combat this pandemic. So that’s why we continue to coordinate with the DOH about the ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among our citizens. And we continue to listen to them. At the same, time we are reminding LGUs about what they should do,” he added.
Currently, the Philippines has one of the highest coronavirus infection and mortality rates in the Southeast Asian region. The DOH has so far recorded 6,459 COVID-19 cases nationwide, with 429 casualties and 613 recoveries.
Worldwide, over 2.40 million individuals have been infected, while 165,788 have died from the disease and 620,696 have recovered from it.
/atm