MANILA, Philippines — Asymptomatic or mild novel coronavirus cases may be exempted from facility-based isolation if the patients are vulnerable, with comorbidities (suffering from more than one disease at the same time), and if the requirements for home quarantine are met.
In a statement, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said facility-based isolation “shall be required for confirmed asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases” except in certain instances.
In its Resolution No. 74, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) laid down conditions for an asymptomatic or a mild-case patient to be allowed home quarantine.
The local health officer will confirm if a patient is considered vulnerable or having comorbidities, and the place of residence meets the government’s requirements for home quarantine.
Isolation centers
The resolution further categorizes patients who are deemed vulnerable or with comorbidities as to include “minors, senior citizens with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, people with disability who cannot carry out self-care, and immunocompromised patients.”
The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) require patients undergoing home quarantine to have their own room and comfort room in order to be isolated from other members of the household.
Home quarantine may also be allowed if the LIGTAS COVID-19 isolation centers in a given region are fully occupied, and the local government unit does not have sufficient isolation facilities.
The national government has also booked hotel rooms where patients could undergo quarantine.
“The DOH and the DILG, in consultation with local experts, are directed to amend Joint Administrative Order No. 2020-0001, specifically on the provisions on the admission of confirmed asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 cases in Ligtas COVID-19 Centers,” the IATF said, referring to the joint order by the two agencies specifying guidelines on the “community-based management of mild COVID-19 cases,” among other concerns.
Virus case update
In July, the IATF required asymptomatic and mild patients to undergo facility-based isolation if they shared rooms and comfort rooms with other household members.
As of Friday, the Philippines’ national tally grew to 299,361 as the DOH recorded an additional 2,630 cases. Of these cases, 2,327 got sick between Sept. 12 and Sept. 25, while 144 fell ill between Sept. 1 and Sept, 11.
Metro Manila reported the most number of infections at 1,091, followed by Cavite (196), Laguna (171), Negros Occidental (142) and Rizal (141).
With an additional 494 recoveries, there are now a total of 232,399 recovered patients.
But the death toll climbed to 5,196 as 69 patients succumbed to the severe respiratory disease.
Of the newly reported deaths, 43 died this month, eight in August, seven in July, 10 in June and one in May.
Thirty-three of the fatalities were from Metro Manila, 11 from Central Luzon, nine from Calabarzon, eight from Western Visayas, two each from Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao, and one each from Bicol, Davao, Mimaropa and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The recoveries and deaths leave the country with a net 61,766 active cases, of which 87 percent are mild, 9 percent asymptomatic, 1.2 percent severe and 2.8 percent critical.
—With a report from Jovic Yee