RETIRED investigators and intelligence officers may be tapped to help improve the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) contract tracing capability of the government, contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque yesterday introduced Magalong as the government’s new contact tracing czar and said he was in Cebu City over the weekend to check out contact tracing activities in the Visayan metropolis.
Magalong’s contact tracing program in Baguio City has been hailed by the government as an ideal set-up in tracing close contacts of persons who tested positive of the novel virus and containing the spread of the virus in the city.
The health department is looking at hiring over 50,000 contact tracers as a contamination strategy to curb the growing number of infected patients.
Magalong said the contact tracing teams would include investigators and health workers.
He said investigators are important because we need contact tracers who are inquisitive with an “investigative mindset.”
“Kailangan din po natin ng doctors, kailangan din po natin ng nurses, kailangan din po natin ng mga retired investigators or law enforcement investigators. Probably, kung talagang kulang na kulang na po tayo, kailangan po nating kumuha ng mga dating mga criminologist. Puwede rin po nating kunin iyong mga retired na intelligence personnel (We need doctors, we also need nurses, we also need retired investigators or law enforcement investigators. Probably, if we do not have enough, we can get former criminologists. We can also get retired intelligence personnel),” Magalong said.
Magalong said the government also needs people with a background in information technology for the encoding and technical support aspect.
He said the contact tracers would be trained to improve their skills and orient them on the use of e-system tools that include COVID-19 data collection tool, a geographical information system platform, and a Link Analysis Tool.
The government needs to intensify its contact tracing aspect as it continues to intensify the conduct of COVID-19 tests, striving to reach its target of one million tests before July ends. Government hopes to conduct 10 million tests by next year.
Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19, said the number of testing laboratories is now 85 and the maximum testing capacity is at 25,000 a day. Government targets to do 30,000 tests by the end of July.
Dizon said COVID-19 tests in Metro Manila now averages 16,000 a day.
“We need to intensify our testing because that is the only way to find those who are infected in the communities, isolate them, and slow down the spread of COVID-19,” Dizon said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that as of July 12, data from the Department of Health showed that there are 38,679 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, and many of them are in Metro Manila.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) by Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is now in the second phase of the National Action Plan which focuses on five steps, namely: prevent which involves continuing information drive about COVID-19 and the need to follow minimum health standard; detect which includes doing COVID-19 tests and contact tracing; isolate which include quarantine and isolation of patents and improving and raising the number of the current quarantine and isolation facilities; treat which refers to clinical management and increase of health care capacity; and reintegrate or making the people aware of possible reinfection and avoiding it through minimum health standards.
CZARS
Roque said to better oversee the government’s COVID-19 response measures, Malacañang has designated anti-COVID czars to lead each of the components: Dizon as chief testing czar, Magalong as chief tracing czar, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar as chief isolation czar, and health undersecretary Leopoldo “Bong” Vega as chief treatment czar.
Villar said the country at present has 52,223 available isolation beds at the Ligtas COVID Centers or local isolation facilities, and 3,193 isolation beds in the We Heal As One Mega Ligtas Centers.
He said 129 regional evacuation centers are being converted to isolation facilities at present and are set to build 11 in Region 7 (Central Visayas), 16 in Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), 20 in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), and three in Region 12 (Socckscargen).
Vega for his part said a One Hospital Command center will be set up which will be in charge of both public and private hospitals and quarantine facilities in terms of planning healthcare capacity among others.
He said the DOH is monitoring the hospital capacity of the different hospitals especially in Metro Manila and Cebu City, where high cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, to be able to help improve bed allocations, provide additional health care personnel even for private hospitals, and provide supply augmentation if needed.
HOME QUARANTINE
Health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government is not totally discouraging home quarantine for COVID-19 patients.
Vergeire said the option remains available provided that minimum standards are met.
“There are information circulating that we are discouraging home quarantine. We are not discouraging home quarantine. We even have an order stating that home quarantine is allowed,” said Vergeire.
She added: “But what we are saying is we have conditions set for home quarantine,” she furthered.
DOH data shows how there are currently 12,684 COVID-19 cases that are presently on home quarantine in different areas of the country.
On Sunday, IATF-EID co-chairman Karlo Nograles said the government is now discouraging home quarantines and would prefer all COVID-19 patients, regardless of the severity of their cases, to complete their quarantines in quarantine facilities.
Nograles has said this is because home quarantine exposes other house members to the novel virus carried by the positive patient even if they are isolated in a separate room.
Vergeire said requirements for home quarantine include the patients having their own bedrooms and comfort rooms to ensure isolation.
Another condition is for local government units to have adequate monitoring capabilities for mild and asymptomatic patients.
“If such conditions cannot be complied with, it is best that our patients be brought to Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMFs). This is what we are saying with regards to stronger quarantine measures,” said Vergeire.
She said mild cases must not be brought to hospitals and medical facilities “because they just add up to the burden of our hospitals.”
According to Vergeire, there is a real possibility that patients under home quarantine can cause transmission of the virus.
“That is one of the possible factors. But we are also looking at other factors that could be driving infection in the communities. We are looking into all of these,” she said.
And if transferring to TTMFs is deemed necessary, the DOH said there are enough beds to accommodate COVID-19 patients as well as suspect and probable cases.
Vergeire noted how the 8,287 local isolation and general treatment areas for COVID-19 cases (LIGTAS-COVID) have a present occupancy rate of only 25.43 percent.
Of the 70,029 total beds allocated in LIGTAS-COVID facilities, only 17,806 beds are presently occupied while the other 52,223 are available.
“Taking note of our occupancy rate, we have enough beds,” assured Vergeire.
MAKATI MEDICAL CENTER
In a related development, the Makati Medical Center (MMC) yesterday declared full capacity in so far as its COVID-19 beds are concerned.
MMC Medical Director Dr Saturnino Javier, in a statement, said all their critical care resources for COVID-19 patients have already been occupied.
“MMC has now reached full capacity. This is insofar as our capability to handle patients suspected and confirmed to have COVID-19 is concerned,” said Javier.
“The COVID-19 zones of MMC, both the regular wards and the Critical Care Units, and especially the Emergency Room, are now full,” he added.
In a separate statement, the St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) also declared that their allocated COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) beds are now in full capacity.
In its public advisory, the SLMC said the announcement covers both the Quezon City (SLMC-QC) and Global City (SLMC-GC) branches.
“In this regard, we request the public to consider bringing critically ill COVID-19 suspects to alternative hospitals so they will receive immediate and utmost care,” it said, adding: “We will keep everyone updated once we reopen admissions for COVID-19 ICU beds.”
MANILA CITY
Mayor Isko Moreno said the city government of Manila is set to acquire another COVID-19 testing to further boost the testing capability of the city health department.
Moreno said the COVID-19 serology testing machine, which uses blood sample, has an accuracy of 99.6 percent for specifity and 100 percent for sensitivity.
However, confirmatory swab tests will still be done under public health protocols being implemented.
Moreno said the machine it earlier purchased from American healthcare firm Abbott can process up to 50 tests per hour, adding that with a 16-hour shift it can process up to 800 tests per day.
Moreno said the additional machine to be purchased will “increase the total capacity of the testing machines to process up to 22,400 tests a week or 89,600 per month.”
Each of the machine costs P6 millions. The three earlier units were sent to the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Maynila and Ospital ng Sampaloc.
“Even after the COVID-19 crisis, we can still use these machines for the benefit of our fellow Manilenos. Aside from COVID-19, the machines can also detect cancer, hepatitis, thyroid diseases and other infectious diseases,” Moreno said.
The city government had previously set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory at the Sta. Ana Hospital where the Manila Infectious Disease Control Center is located.
In a related development, Manila City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan said the city government is capable of conducting 350 swab tests per day or 2,450 per week.
The swab tests are provided for free.
As of July 10, Pangan said about 158,520 rapid tests and 16,137 swab tests have been conducted by the city health authorities. — With Gerard Naval and Ashzel Hachero
