Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has instructed a close monitoring of 6,000 evacuees from recent storms for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms.
She tasked the city’s health department to continue its strict supervision and monitoring of the evacuees for any COVID-19 symptoms, especially after they returned to their homes on Monday morning.
“We will make sure that any possible infection will be prevented from spreading further to the communities,” she said.
Dr. Rolando Cruz, head of the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU), said the city’s contact tracing team is keeping a close watch on the evacuees.
The evacuees, who were affected by typhoon “Rolly,” will be asked periodically within the next two weeks about their health status, and if they are experiencing any flu-like or COVID-related symptoms, such as cough, colds, and fever, Cruz said.
“We’ll exhaust all our means to contact and monitor our evacuees, ensuring that everyone is covered,” he added.
Cruz gave the assurance that the city has sufficient contact tracers, along with QCitizens, to address all evacuees since CESU has received reinforcement from barangay-enlisted individuals and those recently hired through the Department of Interior and Local Government’s initiative.
“We implore the cooperation of our citizens who were evacuated this weekend. We need your openness and honesty about your health status — symptoms or no symptoms,” Belmonte said.
The city government recently reported less than 1,000 active cases for the first time in months.
As of Nov. 6, the city’s active cases are at 768, while recoveries are at 21,589 or 94 percent of the total validated cases.