WHILE more than 200 Covid-19 patients remain on home quarantine in Cagayan de Oro City as of June 14, City Hall is moving more of them to the city’s isolation facilities to reduce the risk of community transmission and lower the city’s Covid-19 surge, Mayor Oscar Moreno said yesterday.
"From 251 Covid-19 patients that were on home quarantine last Monday (June 14), about 34 of them were extracted and transferred to the city’s temporary treatment monitoring facilities (TTMFs), lowering the number to 217. I also noted a drop in COVID-19 patients in the city’s isolation units from 83 to 48. I’m constantly following up on the number of admissions in the city’s isolation facilities," Moreno said during Tuesday noon’s City Hall press briefing.
Moreno said while he was thankful for the improved turnover rate of Covid-19 patients in the city’s isolation facilities, much more needs to be done by City Hall to reduce the number of Covid-19 patients on home quarantine. A revamp in the management of the city’s isolation facilities was ordered by Moreno last week to expedite the extraction and transfer of home quarantine patients who run the risk of causing community transmission.
"I see these patients on home quarantine (as a contributing factor) to the city’s virus surge because there’s no assurance that they won’t infect others while at home. In fact, they can likely cause community transmission," Moreno said. Mayor Moreno appointed Paul Douglas ‘Rocky’ Calingin, executive overseer of the City Agricultural Productivity Office, to head the management of the city’s isolation facilities.
Calingin headed the processing and transfer of Kagay-anons returning from overseas and other parts of the country to the city’s isolation facilities before his appointment. While city health officials will still handle patients' medical concerns, the operation and management of the city’s isolation facilities will be handled by non-medical groups to ensure maximum efficiency in the extraction and housing of home quarantine patients, Moreno said.
Moreno said overstaying patients that don’t display Covid-19 symptoms after two weeks should be examined by a doctor and then discharged for home quarantine to make room in the city's isolation facilities.
"Anyway if we can, they can be re-swabbed later," Moreno said.
The Department of Health allowed ‘time-bound' discharges of patients who don’t exhibit Covid-19 symptoms after 10 days of quarantine provided they are examined and cleared by doctors. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
