Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday cops and local government personnel would conduct a house to house search for COVID-19 patients that are not qualified for home quarantine.
Chief testing czar in the fight against COVID-19 Vince Dizon said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV that a mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patient should have his or her own room, own bathroom, and must not be living with an elderly, pregnant, or person with a pre-existing medical condition to qualify for home quarantine.
“Ayaw na po natin mag-home quarantine ang mga positive natin kung wala naman po talagang kapasidad ‘yung kanilang bahay,” Año said at a press briefing in Taguig City.
(We don’t want positive patients to be under home quarantine if they can’t do so.)
“Kaya ang gagawin natin, sa tulong ng LGUs (local government units) at PNP (Philippine National Police) ay ibabahay-bahay po natin ‘yan at dadalhin natin ang mga positive sa ating COVID isolation facilities,” he added.
(With the help of LGUs and PNP, we would go house to house, and we will bring the positive patients to COVID isolation facilities.)
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Año urged the public to report to authorities anyone who acquired the virus to prevent further transmission.
“Ilalagay niyo sa panganib ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan kaya hinihikayat po namin ang lahat, mas madali pong gagaling, 14 days lang kayo quarantine, may libreng pagkain pa,” he said.
(You are going to put the lives of our countrymen at risk, so we urge everyone, you’ll recover faster, you’ll be in quarantine for only 14 days. You’ll also have free food.)
Oplan Kalinga launched
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 launched Oplan Kalinga to support the house to house search. The program escorts infected patients from their homes to government isolation facilities.
Dizon said at a press conference in Taguig City that the Oplan Kalinga already began on Sunday and Monday in Navotas and Malabon. Authorities had escorted around 50 COVID-19 patients from their houses to government facilities so far, he said.