Caloocan health department on lockdown

CALOOCAN, Philippines — The medical team conducting tracing and isolation of coronavirus disease 2019 patients in Caloocan has been placed under quarantine after its head allegedly breached protocols despite testing positive for COVID-19.

The officer-in-charge of the city health department had tested positive for the disease, sources confirmed to The STAR yesterday.

The doctor called for a meeting on Monday with division chiefs and staff about their COVID-19 response without disclosing that she had her swab samples taken after being exposed to two persons infected with the virus.

Hours after the meeting, the doctor’s COVID-19 test yielded positive results, prompting 25 personnel of the city health department to go on quarantine.

“With her actions, the city’s COVID-19 response was paralyzed. Like Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, she exposed her staff to the virus. Now the entire health department is on lockdown,” a source said.

Pimentel had received flak when he accompanied his wife Kathryna to the Makati Medical Center last month despite showing symptoms of the virus. He had tested positive for COVID-19.

Sources said the doctor should be held liable for breaching quarantine protocols.

“You are a medical administrator. You are a department head yourself. I do not think it’s enough reason to say she just forgot to inform everyone that she had her samples taken. None of the health department staff could work because of emotional and mental stress,” a source said.

The local government has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) for the conduct of mass testing.

The city hall allocated a budget of P5 million for the mass testing, Mayor Oscar Malapitan said.

Mass testing

San Juan City will soon have its own mass testing of suspected COVID-19 cases, Mayor Francis Zamora said.

He said the testing would cover patients under investigation or those showing symptoms of the virus.

Zamora noted a decline in the number of infections as the city recorded only one COVID-19 case since Saturday.

There were 160 COVID-19 cases in San Juan with 30 deaths.

In Mandaluyong, the local government is eyeing to conduct mass testing of frontline health workers and persons suspected to be infected with the virus.

Mayor Menchie Abalos said they have coordinated with the PRC for the use of its molecular laboratory for the mass testing.

A total of 193 people in Mandaluyong have tested positive for COVID-19, including 20 deaths.

In Valenzuela, the city government ramped up its mass testing capacity to 115 tests per day after partnering with a laboratory accredited to process COVID-19 samples.

The city hall yesterday signed an agreement with Detoxicare Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. to conduct the mass testing.

The laboratory can process 90 samples per day and release the results within 48 hours, according to molecular diagnostics laboratory head Daphne Ang.

“With the 90 tests they are giving us plus the 25 from The Medical City, we would have 115 tests processed every day. So the testing could be expedited,” Mayor Rex Gatchalian said.

Taguig health workers’ pay doubled

In Taguig, the city government has doubled the monthly salaries of barangay health workers (BHWs) who continued to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

The local government promoted the BHWs from volunteers to job order personnel starting April 1.

Under the new payment scheme, BHWs will receive regular pay and additional benefits instead of allowances.

The BHWs are also entitled to a yearly performance incentive of P15,000, according to Mayor Lino Cayetano.

Taguig has 854 BHWs working in the city’s health centers around-the-clock. – With Emmanuel Tupas, Ghio Ong