An infrastructure-oriented thinktank called on Malacanang to order the activation of shelved Department of Health barangay health stations (BHS) as additional quarantine or testing centers for coronavirus response.
“As the government scrambles to augment its meager hospital facilities to address the growing number of COVID-19 patients, there be no delay in activating shelved DOH BHSs as additional facilities for the quarantine of COVID-19 positive persons, and 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.”
This was the statement of Terry Ridon, Infrawatch PH convenor and former urban poor chief of Duterte administration.
570 BHSs units available
Ridon said the project contractor of the DOH BHSs, Jbros Construction, has recently sent a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte stating that there are at least five hundred seventy completed and substantially completed BHS units which are all available and ready to be used by the health department or the local government units.
“As these BHSs 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 said there are twelve available BHSs in the National Capital Region, one hundred fifty BHSs in Central Luzon, two hundred thirty-four BHSs in Southern Tagalog, and forty-five BHSs in Bicol.
Special protocol for urban poor communities
“The primary concern for urban poor communities cannot be overstated. No less than United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (UN IASC) protocol for Covid-19 has identified communities camps, informal settlements and urban slums as requiring special consideration in COVID-19 readiness and response operations.”
The document emphasizes the importance of limiting the risks of transmission arising from movement, overcrowding, climatic exposure due to substandard shelter and poor nutrition and health within urban poor communities.
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Ridon said during the course of the coronavirus crisis, there were several instances in 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?”
Alternative: Covid-19 testing centers
“Alternatively, the BHSs 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 BHSs.”
Ridon said the consensus around the world is to undertake massive testing of affected communities, including health workers in the frontlines.
“With urban poor COVID-19 positive patients sent home to do an impossible self-quarantine there is an absolute urgency to undertake massive testing within their communities. With thin walls and high human interaction, it does not take a rocket scientist to know that transmission in these areas is a certainty.”
Ridon said that these proposals are readily available measures to confront the coronavirus pandemic.
“The mantra of the public has changed. The era of Build Build Build is done. It is time to test, test, test so all of us can live, live, live.”