"The 'vacation' is for their own good."
"The 'vacation' is for their own good."
Unfortunately, President Duterte’s Inter-Agency Task Force is incapable of discovering a vaccine to stop COVID-19. Still, I can see that lately it has taken steps to try to arrest the further spread of the contagion.
We’ve said all along in this corner that the barangay units must be tapped to seek out those people who may need to take the COVID-19 test, place them in quarantine and, if they test positive, admit them to the hospital.
We suggested this “door-to-door survey” of COVID-19 patients when the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was first imposed in March, knowing that lockdown itself is not enough to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Such is the direction that the government is heading for although Malacañang assured there will be no “house-to-house” police search for COVID-19 patients.
Presidential spokesman Atty. Harry Roque clarified that authorities will let the patients themselves voluntarily submit to quarantine, or their families or the barangay officials can report their conditions.
Those patients who do not qualify for home quarantine will be “escorted” or assisted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the government quarantine facilities.
I just hope the PNP personnel would not screw this up, as promised by P/Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield. Eleazar is one of the few credible officials who convince me that the 120-strong PNP can still “serve and protect.”
Needless to say, we are faced with the continually rising daily total of COVID-19 cases which has reached 58,850 as of Wednesday.
This seems alarming but only 36,260 of the total represent “active cases,” as 20,976 are recoveries which is 36 percent of the total.
That is quite significant, indicating that more and more patients are able to get well and beat COVID-19, although the death toll has climbed to 1,599.
Also quite significant is the fact that 91 percent of the total active cases are “mild” COVID-19 infections.
Roque explained that “mild and asymptomatic” COVID-19 cases will be allowed to undergo home quarantine if they have their own room, own bathroom, and if there are no vulnerable persons in the house.
Otherwise, they will be “billeted as guests” at government-sanctioned quarantine facilities where they are expected to stay for 14 days at government’s expense.
Unsurprisingly, Sen. Risa Hontiveros raised fear of possible human rights violation, when Local government Secretary Eduardo Año said police officers would go house-to-house to search for mild COVID-19 cases.
Hontiveros at once compared it to “Oplan Tokhang,” the Philippine National Police massive anti-drug campaign being blamed by government critics for thousands of “extra-judicial killings.”
Roque belied the senator’s hallucination. It’s like a hotel vacation, not as if the government is sending patients to jail, he said.
Roque stressed that the patients will be provided three meals a day at an air-conditioned facility manned by doctors and nurses. They will have free Wi-Fi connection.
This VIP treatment should cause the doubling time of the number of recoveries much faster.
Still, Roque reminded the public that COVID-19 patients who will refuse to be isolated will not be tolerated by the government.
“It is a very communicable disease. If they refuse to be isolated, the State, of course, can isolate them,” Roque warned.
He invoked the State’s inherent police power to protect the citizenry amid the pandemic, therefore, has legal basis.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that the government will have to maximize the use of the country’s community isolation centers and Mega Ligtas Quarantine facilities for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
Duque III said that hospital confinement should be limited to “severe and critical” COVID-19 patients to prevent congestion of hospitals.
Many reasons have deterred people from getting medical help. Many think that testing positive of the disease is an instant death sentence.
Getting confined without any family allowed to visit is just devastating.
They were horrified by reports that remains of those who perished were immediately buried or cremated without the traditional burial attended by their bereaved families.
People are also scared of the costs of the RT-PCR test and hospitalization as much as they are scared of COVID-19 itself, not to mention the misconceptions and superstition about the disease.
So many people, especially in the rural areas, are not even aware of their PhilHealth benefits, particularly COVID-19 packages.
We need to adequately inform people, especially those in the barrios, about the nature of the disease and the treatment available to them if they get sick.
In March, I said the lockdown itself may further spur the community transmission of the contagion among the residents of poor crowded neighborhoods on strict lockdown, without isolating those infected and taking them away for treatment.
I also said contact-tracing was a must as those infected tend to pass it on to several others. Hence, there is a multiplier effect.
We need to encourage and convince people to take the test by making them understand that it is for their own good and their family’s well-being. This is a better approach than threatening them with total lockdown.