Mayors who do not implement social distancing measures in their respective cities during the Luzon-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine may face arrest.
In a televised meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte made this warning amid reports over overcrowding in markets. “Kayong mga mayors, huwag kayong maglaro kasi ang ayaw ninyo mag-social distancing mapipilitan ako puntahan kita at arestuhin kita (You mayors, don’t play because if you don’t want to implement social distancing, I’ll be forced to face you and arrest you),” he said.
Duterte observed that there seems to be “a lack of uniformity” in enforcing the social distancing rule.
If social distancing measures were not strictly observed, he said the rate of infection would not slow down and the second wave of infection could happen.
Duterte also urged the public to wear “durable” face masks. The use of face masks when leaving their homes is now mandatory for residents in areas placed under ECQ.
Meanwhile, Duterte also enjoined barangay officials to keep a record of COVID-19 related deaths as part of efforts to keep their constituents safe.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Tuesday said local government units should ensure that the remains of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases in their localities are cremated or buried within 12 hours after death.
“The remains of persons who died of communicable diseases such as COVID-19 are potentially infectious and standard precautions should be implemented for every case. Kaya dapat siguruhin ng mga local governments na may nakatalagang funeral parlor at crematorium sa kanilang lugar na mamamahala sa mga labi ng namatay sa (This is why local government should ensure that there are designated funeral parlors and crematoriums in their areas that will handle the remains of those who died due to) C-19,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said in a news release.
He pointed out that while cremation is preferred, the same cannot apply to Muslims because it is forbidden in their religion.
“Hence, all remains of our Muslim brothers cannot be cremated but must be buried in the nearest Muslim cemetery within 12 hours from death,” he said.
In places where there are no crematoriums, the standard burial process within 12 hours should apply.
Año also urged LGUs to provide possible financial assistance to cover the logistics, fuel, salary and other expenses that will be incurred in the process which include transfer or transport of human remains.
Meanwhile, DILG spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said that funeral services staff and personnel may also be considered among the frontliners amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that funeral workers are granted exemptions from the Enhanced Community Quarantine to be able to freely move and travel to ensure that the remains of deceased individuals will be given proper funeral services.
As this developed, Senator Francis Tolentino has commended the IATF for allowing the 1, 500 new medical graduates to be given special authorization as doctors.
The new medical graduates will be deployed to public hospitals in the battle against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In allowing their deployment, IATF spokesperson Karlo Nograles said that
they have adopted the Interim Guidelines for the Granting of Special
Authorization for the Limited Practice of Medical Graduates as presented by the Department of Health.
For the last several weeks, Tolentino has been calling for the DOH to deploy the graduates of medical schools in the Philippines.
He also urged the DOH to authorize them for a limited practice of medicine, without having them finish their licensure examination, pursuant to Sec. 12 of Republic Act No. 2382 or the Medical Act of 1959, as amended.
The said law provides that “certificates of registration shall not be required of…medical students who have completed the first four years of medical course, graduates of medicine and registered nurses who may be given limited and special authorization by the secretary of health to render medical services during epidemics or national emergencies.
Over at the House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez on Tuesday thanked the DOH for heeding the public’s clamor to clarify the agency’s guidelines on spraying disinfectants or misting.
“We are grateful to the DOH for listening to the call of the people as we continue to utilize all of the resources available to combat COVID-19,” said Fernandez, who earlier lamented the DOH’s supposed sweeping disapproval of local government units’ misting activities as precautionary measure against the deadly COVID-19 virus. “It is very important for us to sustain the sanitation efforts that would help to slow down, if not stop the spread of the virus,” Fernandez added.
During its virtual presser Monday, the Health department, through DOH Spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, clarified that spraying and misting are allowed provided that protective personal equipment (PPE) are used in doing so. “We wish to clarify our recent claims, which is based on the World Health Organization, that misting and spraying is harmful and won’t protect people from COVID-19,” she said.
Vergeire said that the act of misting and spraying disinfectants directly on individuals and pets are not allowed as “it will do more harm than good.” She added that spraying and misting is advisable when direct surface cleaning becomes impractical to do.
“Direct spraying or misting on people in the community is not advisable as it will pose more risk on their health, especially persons with cough and asthma, because of the chemicals being use,” Vergeire said.
She also said that the DOH is allowing spraying tents inside the
hospitals where health workers, wearing PPEs, are usually going in and out.
Meanwhile, the IATF-EID has directed all government agencies and local government units to adopt the revised classification system for people being checked for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The directive was made after the IATF-EID agreed on Monday night to approve the recommendation of National Task Force on COVID-19, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4 on Tuesday.
Nograles said the new set of guidelines for detecting COVID-19 should be included in state departments and LGUs’ subsequent documents containing government’s efforts to fight the new pathogen.
He added that existing documents issued by all government agencies and LGUs should also be updated.
“All agencies and local government units are directed to apply said classification in all subsequent issuances related to COVID-19, as well as to update existing issuances in accordance therewith,” Nograles said.
Since Jan. 28, the Philippines began classifying COVID-19 cases as either patients under investigation (PUIs) or persons under monitoring (PUMs).
The Department of Health, however, announced on Saturday that it modified the classification for COVID-19 cases.
PUMs, or those who may have been exposed to Covid-19 but exhibit no symptoms, are no longer included in the new classification.
Adopting the World Health Organization’s interim guidance on global surveillance for the new coronavirus, the DOH is now using the terms “suspect,” “probable,” and “confirmed” for Covid-19 cases.
A PUI with mild, severe or critical symptoms who was not tested or awaiting test results is now branded as “suspect,” while a PUI with mild, severe or critical symptoms with inconclusive test results is referred to as a “probable” case.
A Covid-19 positive case, on the other hand, is now classified as “confirmed.”
Adoption of evaluation tool in assessing communities
Also, Nograles said the IATF-EID approved the adoption of the Commission on Population’s (POPCOM) proposed evaluation tool for the assessment of the demographic vulnerabilities of communities to the Covid-19 health event.
He said LGUs, including those from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), should implement the adopted evaluation tool.
“LGUs, including the BARMM, are enjoined to implement such tool to assess communities in their respective jurisdictions,” Nograles said.
Nograles said the guidelines on the implementation of the evaluation tool would be jointly issued by DOH, Commission on Population and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and National Economic and Development Authority.
“Mahalaga po ito para sa pagtukoy ng mga pamilyang makakatanggap ng tulong pinansyal mula sa gobyerno (It’s important to determine the families who are receiving financial assistance from the government),” he said.
In a virtual press briefing held in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Covid-19 is “10 times deadlier” than swine flu, which also caused a global pandemic in 2009.
The Philippines has so far recorded 4,932 Covid-19 confirmed cases, with 315 fatalities and 242 recoveries.
