Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo through the recommendation of the City Health Office has activated the Barangay Health Emergency Reaction Teams (BERT) to monitor and report residents, who are suspected to be possible carriers of the novel coronavirus.
According to City Health Officer Dr. Maria Sara B. Talla, local and health officials should be on heightened alert and conduct surveillance on “emergency or out-patient department cases with focus on those with recent history of travel to and from the City of Wuhan Hubei Province of China,” which has since been quarantined.
DOH-7 Regional Director Jaime Bernadas stressed that all concerned health care facilities and staff to immediately report cases received that would fit the definition for Influenza-Like Illness or Severe Acute Respiratory Infection for the timely response and containment of cases by health authorities.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The World Health Organization stressed that the primary objective of the surveillance are to detect confirmed cases/clusters of Novel Corona Virus infection and any evidence of amplified or sustained human-to-human transmission and to determine risk factors and the geographic risk area for infection of the virus.
Dr. Talla said that BERTS and other health workers will focus on monitoring those cases or persons with recent history of travel to and from the City of Wuhan, Hubei Province of China in the 14 days prior to symptom onset.
Up to the present, there is no confirmed cases of novel corona virus in Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City.
According to Dr. Talla as part of the preventive measures, people should make it a habit to wash their hands with soap, use facial masks and avoid crowded places. (PIO)
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});