The government released Friday guidelines for home quarantine to prevent hospital congestion as COVID-19 cases continued to rise.
According to Department of Health spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, COVID-positive individuals with symptoms might isolate themselves at home if they have their own room and bathroom.
The DOH also warned the public against complacency and purposely getting infected with COVID-19 to receive natural immunity following an expert’s remark that it may act as a “natural vaccine.”
“Let’s not be complacent and get infected because of this claim, this is not the direction of our COVID response. We need to prevent more infections in order to avoid producing more variants,” Vergeire said.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has begun accepting applications for certification of self-test home test kits. “We announce that we are accepting applications for special certification COVID-19 self-administered home test kits,” FDA officer-in-charge Dr. Oscar Guiterrez said in a pre-recorded Talk to the People.
The FDA said they would also “release guidelines/policy on the use of home test kits and the reporting system will be issued by the Department of Health by January 17.”
Malacanang earlier said it was not keen on subsidizing the cost of antigen COVID-19 test kits that can be used at home as it is awaiting recommendation from the FDA.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said those not approved by the country’s regulatory body could be considered as fake.
Vergeire said all household members of a COVID-positive person are exposed and are considered close contacts.
They can quarantine at home if they have no symptoms, have no comorbidities, they are not mixed with COVID-positive persons, and if they follow minimum public health standards such as wearing of face masks, proper hand hygiene, and observance of physical distancing, she said.
“For those in isolation with mild to moderate symptoms, maximize the use of telemedicine services,” she said during a virtual public briefing.
Vergeire said this would avoid having hospitals to be fully occupied.
All virus patients, regardless of vaccination status, who are asymptomatic or experience mild to moderate symptoms must be isolated
for 10 days or at the advice of their doctor, she said.
Severe and critical patients must be isolated for 21 days or at the advice of their doctor, she added.
Government has shortened the isolation period of fully vaccinated medical frontliners in consideration of hospitals’ capacity, Vergeire said.
Asymptomatic to moderate healthcare workers must isolate for 5 days, while close contacts are not required to quarantine, Vergeire said.
Individuals with symptoms who turn out positive in antigen tests will likely also yield a positive result in an RT-PCR test and must be isolated immediately, according to Vergeire. The same goes for their asymptomatic close contacts who have a positive antigen test result, Vergeire said.
“If in doubt, isolate — no need to wait for tests, isolate, isolate,” she said.
Asymptomatic close contacts who have a negative antigen test result must quarantine and take an RT-PCR test after day 5 of their exposure, she added.
Individuals who are symptomatic but have a negative antigen test result must undergo a confirmatory swab or RT-PCR test, Vergeire said.
Those who are asymptomatic and were not exposed to virus patients but turn out positive in an antigen test must immediately isolate and consult a health care professional, according to the spokesperson.
Vergeire said asymptomatic persons who were not exposed to COVID patients and turn out negative in an antigen test must follow minimum public health standards, she added.
‘Recognize infection’
A health reform advocate has advised the public to recognize COVID-19 infection symptoms, isolate and consult a doctor, as virus infections increase nationwide.
Dr. Tony Leachon, former adviser of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said the Omicron variant presents milder symptoms compared with the Delta variant as it “spares the lungs.”
“It might be the flu but there are fatigue and general body pains,” he told ANC’s Headstart.
“In 400 patients I saw this week, presentations of loss of sense of smell and taste were rare. In just 2 days, they would present the
symptoms. Some don’t even have fever,” he said.
It is important for patients to stay home for the first 5 to 7 days if they experience symptoms, according to Leachon.
‘Important to hydrate’
Adults may take 500 milligrams of paracetamol every 4 to 6 hours along with naproxen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, for three days, Leachon said.
Mucolytic and antitussive medicines can be taken with each other, he also said.
It is also important to hydrate with water and eat fruits and vegetables, Leachon said. Drinking warm water with lemon and honey will also help, he added.
Two tablets of 6 milligrams melatonin, a natural supplement, can be taken to help with sleeping, according to the public health expert.
Patients must consult their doctors first before taking Lianhua Qingwen, a Chinese traditional medicine approved by the Food and Drug
Administration, Leachon said.
‘Lack of foresight’
Meanwhile, Malacañang denied a supposed lack of foresight over COVID-19 home test kits and vaccination of younger children, as the
Philippines battled another spike in coronavirus infections.
The Philippines has yet to start vaccinations of 5 to 11-year-olds.
The use of antigen self-test kits, meanwhile, is still under study, the health department said this week.
Asked if these showed a problem in foresight, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said, “No.”
“There is no manufacturer or supplier yet that has applied for FDA authorization. We are appealing to manufacturers and suppliers to
already pass through the FDA and get the home test kits accredited,” Nograles said.
Diagnostic labs
Several diagnostic laboratories are being swamped after people trooped to testing centers due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
According to a report on “24 Oras” on Thursday, several laboratories temporarily stopped accepting walk-in, drive through, and home test
service clients due to the increase in requests for COVID-19 tests.
“We are temporarily suspending certain services not necessarily for being overwhelmed but more like it will be easier to manage service commitments to the clients that are coming in,” said Von Ryan Rubio, operations head for external sites of Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory.
Some of the diagnostic laboratories issued advisories and asked clients for their understanding for the delay of the release of COVID-19 test results.
Free tests
Health advocates reiterated their earlier call for the government to conduct free mass testing amid the rise in COVID-19 cases.
In a virtual forum, Dr. Josh San Pedro, co-convenor of the Coalition for People’s Right to Health, pointed out the lack of disease surveillance and low testing coverage.
San Pedro also lamented the government’s supposed inability to cover costs for testing, resulting in people’s out-of-pocket spending.
Testing czar Vince Dizon earlier this week said mass testing would be difficult to implement due to the government’s “limited resources.”
The government will have to shell out P200 million daily if it shoulders the cost of 100,000 coronavirus tests at around P2,000 each,
he added.
‘Worst case scenario’
A militant legislator said the government should ramp up vaccination and conduct massive testing.
“With yesterday’s (Thursday’s) tested COVID infections already at 17,000 the government both national and local must do triple time to quell this new surge,” House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said.
He said massive vaccination should now be in tandem with free massive testing, either antigen or RT-PCR, using available funds for the 2022 budget.