Monitor flood evacuees for COVID-19 symptoms, local governments told

MANILA, Philippines — At the start of November, the Department of Health (DOH) said that because it might not be possible to test all evacuees for the new coronavirus before they were sent home, local governments should ensure that preventive measures were in place in the shelters to prevent a surge in infections.

In its latest recommendation to the government, the OCTA Research Group suggested that local governments provide “adequate and accessible testing, effective contact tracing and supportive isolation facilities” to families in evacuation centers as more storms may hit the country.

During a briefing on Nov. 4, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that while it might be ideal to test the evacuees, it was “not really recommended at this point.”

Screening will suffice

“Ideally, if we have the resources and it can be done, we can do that. But whenever we evacuate our countrymen during these times of calamities, this is one of the emergency measures that we do,” Vergeire said.

Instead, the DOH recommended that safety officers regularly monitor evacuees, especially those most vulnerable to COVID-19 such as the elderly and those with underlying conditions. This way, anyone who would develop symptoms may immediately be isolated to prevent transmission of the new coronavirus.

The evacuees should also observe the minimum health standards, such as wearing masks, frequent hand-washing, and physical distancing, the DOH said.

When asked if testing could be done before evacuees were sent back home, Vergeire said symptom screening would suffice.

“We really need to have our barangay health response teams mobilized and that they monitor [the evacuees] once they return to their communities. Symptom screening is our recommended way for now before residents are sent back to their communities,” she said.

On Tuesday, the DOH recorded 1,148 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the overall number of cases to 410,718.

Cavite reported the most number of cases, 88, followed by Quezon City (52), Rizal (46), Baguio City (44) and Manila (44).

The DOH said 186 more patients had recovered, pushing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 374,543. But the death toll rose to 7,862 with the deaths of 23 more patients.

Positivity rate 5.1%

Of the 17,880 patients tested for COVID-19 Monday noon, 920 tested positive, or a positivity rate of 5.1 percent.

The World Health Organization’s benchmark is less than 5 percent.

In Metro Manila, OCTA noted that the positivity rate continued to decline and was now 4 percent.

The recoveries and deaths left the country with 28,313 active cases, of which 83.6 percent were mild, 8.2 percent asymptomatic, 0.22 percent moderate, 2.9 percent severe, and 5.1 percent critical.