As some evacuees in Marikina City and Quezon City have tested positive for COVID-19, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public on Tuesday (Nov. 24) that it is keeping an eye on the strict implementation of health and safety protocols in the evacuation centers.
“We are working with the local government units to ensure that the evacuations centers conform or observe the minimum health and safety protocols, because of course, the threat of COVID-19 is still present and we need to protect our IDPs (internally displaced persons),” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao told the ANC Headstart in an interview.
The DSWD official made the assurance following reports that three evacuees in Quezon City tested positive for the coronavirus disease, and that Marikina City government logged five confirmed cases among its evacuees.
The DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC) reported that as of 6 a.m., Nov. 24, around 34,486 families or 132,290 persons continue to stay in 582 evacuation centers from the eight regions badly hit by Typhoon “Ulysses”. It also reported that around 19,318 families or 83, 736 persons opted to stay with their relatives and/or friends.
Dumlao said as the lead agency for the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the DSWD continues to provide technical assistance to local governments (LGUs) in the proper management of evacuation centers amid the pandemic crisis.
"We actually issued guidelines to assist our camp managers in ensuring that minimum and health after protocols are observed in evacuation centers. One of which, of course, is ensuring that entry and exit points are in place. Likewise, monitoring and contract tracing of suspected cases are also done in evacuation centers,” she said.
She noted that the implementation of the agency’s COVID-19 Operational Guidance, which was issued in May 2020, is being done in partnership and collaboration with the LGUs, barangay health workers, and barangay nutrition scholars.
The DSWD Operational Guidance requires the prepositioning of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for camp management personnel and volunteers, and strictly limits the number of IDPs per camp.
Accommodation areas, tents, and modular tents or partitions must be properly distanced, and that quarantine or isolation areas for suspected cases of COVID-19 must also be identified, the agency’s Operational Guidance provides.
"In terms of setting of up of camps, the Operational Guidance states that it is necessary to ensure that a camp management desk is available and that evacuees have access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, such as water systems, latrines, handwashing areas, or bathing cubicles with social distancing markings in camps,” the DSWD said.