A welcome move
THE Filipino people cheered as the national government, through the Department of Health (DOH), moved to develop “home care kits” for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms.
No less than the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) welcomed the move, which is seen to greatly help efforts to declog public and private hospitals and isolation facilities.
At present, hospitals and isolation facilities in the heavily-populated “National Capital Region (NCR) Plus Bubble” are teeming with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.
The “NCR Plus Bubble” is also composed of the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Ano, a former four-star military general, said the initiative will help barangay health workers in dealing with mild and asymptomatic cases in their communities.
Secretary Ano said “diyan papasok ang (mga miyembro) ng ating mga barangay health emergency response team (BHERT),” adding that “mas alam nila ang sitwasyon sa barangay.”
We share the view of Ano that these “home care kits” “ay malaking tulong para mabawasan yung ating mga nasa isolation facilities at mailabas naman yung mga gumaling na sa ospital.”
The package consists of medicines, notes from doctors on how to use the medicines and vitamins, and warnings on symptoms that would require patients to seek immediate attention in hospitals.
Last Monday, the spokesperson, Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire, said they are now in talks with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for the funding of the “home care kits.”
What we have here is a virtual time bomb just ticking away and waiting to claim more victims “kung hindi tayo gagawa ng paraan para mawala ang pagsisiksikan ng pasyente sa mga ospital.”
