Use barangay health stations as quarantine centers --Ridon
Published Mar 29, 2020 12:00 am
By Chito Chavez
An infrastructure-oriented think tank urged the government to consider activating the shelved Department of Health (DOH) barangay health stations (BHS) as additional quarantine centers to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon/ FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN
“As the government scrambles to augment its meager hospital facilities to address the growing number of COVID-19 patients, there should be no delay in activating shelved DOH BHS as additional facilities for the quarantine of COVID-19 positive persons, even persons under investigation (PUI) or persons under monitoring (PUM.) These centers are most critical in locations where there is greatest density of urban poor communities, as there are no available quarantine facilities within these areas,” said Infrawatch PH convenor and former Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon.
Ridon used to head the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP.)
He noted the contractor for the DOH BHS, JBros Construction, wrote President Duterte recently and told him there are at least 570 completed or substantially-built BHS units that are ready to be used local government units (LGUs.)
“As these BHS units are easily accessible to barangays, the risks of exposure arising from the transit of COVID-19 patients, PUMs and PUIs will be minimized to the barangay level. But most important, those within urban poor communities will be able to quarantine their affected community members according to strict protocol,” Ridon stressed.
Ridon said there are 12 BHSs in the National Capital Region (NCR), 150 in Central Luzon, 234 in Southern Tagalog and 45 BHSs in Bicol.
Ridon also lamented that in the course of the pandemic, there have been many instances during which slum dwellers were given the shorter end of the stick.
“There was an instance in which COVID-19 positive patients from urban poor communities were sent home to self-quarantine. But the question is, how in the world can urban poor patients do this when their bedroom is also their kitchen and living room?" he asked.
“Alternatively, the BHS can be used as community COVID-19 testing centers to declog the already burdensome logistical and personnel load in the country’s main public and private hospitals, as the testing can now be decentralized in BHS," Ridon pointed out.#
Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon/ FACEBOOK/ MANILA BULLETIN
“As the government scrambles to augment its meager hospital facilities to address the growing number of COVID-19 patients, there should be no delay in activating shelved DOH BHS as additional facilities for the quarantine of COVID-19 positive persons, even persons under investigation (PUI) or persons under monitoring (PUM.) These centers are most critical in locations where there is greatest density of urban poor communities, as there are no available quarantine facilities within these areas,” said Infrawatch PH convenor and former Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon.
Ridon used to head the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP.)
He noted the contractor for the DOH BHS, JBros Construction, wrote President Duterte recently and told him there are at least 570 completed or substantially-built BHS units that are ready to be used local government units (LGUs.)
“As these BHS units are easily accessible to barangays, the risks of exposure arising from the transit of COVID-19 patients, PUMs and PUIs will be minimized to the barangay level. But most important, those within urban poor communities will be able to quarantine their affected community members according to strict protocol,” Ridon stressed.
Ridon said there are 12 BHSs in the National Capital Region (NCR), 150 in Central Luzon, 234 in Southern Tagalog and 45 BHSs in Bicol.
Ridon also lamented that in the course of the pandemic, there have been many instances during which slum dwellers were given the shorter end of the stick.
“There was an instance in which COVID-19 positive patients from urban poor communities were sent home to self-quarantine. But the question is, how in the world can urban poor patients do this when their bedroom is also their kitchen and living room?" he asked.
“Alternatively, the BHS can be used as community COVID-19 testing centers to declog the already burdensome logistical and personnel load in the country’s main public and private hospitals, as the testing can now be decentralized in BHS," Ridon pointed out.#