No Over Reaction

February 10, 2020 Sideglance

The preventive measures now imposed by the national government to mitigate the danger posed by the 2019 novel coronavirus (n-Cov) seem to be gaining traction.

This will go a long way in further insuring the Filipino people that the government is on top of and in control of the situation and that whatever health risk posed by the virus has been greatly reduced.

Nonetheless it must be pointed out that those agencies concerned with the protection of the lives of the people should have their acts together and must be seen to be effectively collaborating with each other in insuring the health and safety of the public.

This is why some concerns must be raised when reports are received that some foreign tourists are able to sneak into the country and visit popular sites in Mindanao without undergoing the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government ((DILG) as well as local officials in many local government units (LGUs) have already ordered mandatory isolation for visitors arriving from outside the country to make sure that they are not carriers of the new corona virus.

This is a preventive measure in the extreme but necessary if we are to contain and effectively manage the numbers of individuals infected with the virus within our borders.

What disturbs is the policy of the Department of Health (DOH) that they can only impose the quarantine on persons who already show flulike symptoms after their arrival at the airport. The DOH in Southern Mindanao further stated through its regional director Annabelle Yumang that not all of those visitors who arrive, even from countries with confirmed cases of the nCov, undergo the 14 day quarantine, but only those who exhibit flu like symptoms upon their arrival in the country.

Those who do not show any symptoms were to be regarded as “persons under monitoring” and were thus allowed to visit any part of the country.

This policy by the DOH is dangerous given what is already known about the nature of the new corona virus and how easily it can be transmitted to unsuspecting individuals.

The 14 day mandatory quarantine must be imposed on all visitors who arrive in the country, particularly on those coming from China or those countries already confirmed with having cases of infection by the virus. This is literally a draconian measure of prevention but it is vital if we want to assure ourselves that we can effectively contain the disease from further spreading into other parts of the country.

This is not an overreaction but the given the already widespread reach of the n-CoV around the world it is only logical and practical that the country take drastic measures for prevention and containment of the virus.

The DOH must then adopt what the DILG and LGUs are implementing in their various jurisdiction in the country and that is to enforce a mandatory 14 day quarantine on all visitors, even our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) coming from outside the country, to guarantee our peace of mind that the government is doing all in its power to stave off and prevent the further spread of the virus in our country.