CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery explained in a press conference not to be shocked as the city expects surge of Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) following the influx of people coming from Manila and other parts of the country via air and seaports.
She added, the city together with the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) has been fully activated to monitor PUMs especially those coming in from travels abroad or outside CDO.
She called Kagay-anons to be cautious and to report to BHERTs if they have recently travelled or know anyone who did.
“We should not be shocked if we have increasing PUMs to do home quarantine,” she said.
Rest assured that they will be monitored for any manifestitation of the disease. “We have trained personnel who will handle these cases,” she clarified.
In addition, every barangay is mandated to identify barangay isolation unit per Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) advisory, she said.
PUMs who cannot do isolation in their homes, can use the isolation provided by the barangay, she adds.
The City Health Office here has activated its Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) and provided hotline number for each barangay.
Nery said, “We must understand terminologies used for COVID 19.” The advisory is that everyone coming from Manila shall report to BHERTs for self-quarantine or home quarantine.
She clarifies PUMs are not the same as Persons Under Investigation (PUIs). PUMs do not have symptoms and do not manifest symptoms like that of PUIs who are contained in the hospital.
Per Department of Health (DOH) advisory, PUMs are advised to do home quarantine for 14 days. This means, they stay home and monitor health condition. If they develop COVID 19 symptoms, then they need to inform BHERTs so proper measures will be taken.
DOH-10 Assistant Regional Director David Mendoza said there was only one positive case for COVID 19 in Northern Mindanao, PH40, who died recently.
Meanwhile, PUIs in Region 10 total to 35 and out of this, 17 were negative while six are pending results.
DOH advises the public not to panic. The most important thing is social distancing. Second is personal hygiene and washing of hands. Third, observe coughing etiquette. Finally, wearing of masks are only for patients, not just anyone without illness.(JMOR/PIA10)
