ILOILO City – Of Western Visayas’ 4,051 barangays, 3,948 or 97 percent have formed their respective Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs).
According to Director Ariel Iglesia of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 6, only three percent or 103 barangays have yet to form their BHERTs.
He urged the barangay captains of these villages to hurry up.
DILG ordered the formation of BHERTs in preparation for the possible spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The order is contained in Memorandum Circular Number 2020-023 issued by Secretary Eduardo Año and addressed to “all provincial governors, city and municipal mayors, DILG regional directors and field offices, and all others concerned.”
LGUs must organize BHERTs “at the minimum ratio of one team for every 5,000 population and mobilize them to help implement prevention and mitigation, preparedness and response measures for the COVID-19.”
Each BHERT shall be composed of an Executive Officer, a barangay tanod and two barangay health workers, one of whom is preferably a nurse or midwife, and all are appointed by the punong barangay.
BHERTs are tasked to do the following:
* visit the home of every person from a country with a COVID-2019 confirmed case to gather information and encourage the person to come to the Barangay Isolation Unit (BIU) or voluntarily undergo home confinement for not less than 14 days
* ensure that the visits are carried out in a very discreet and courteous manner so as not to cause undue alarm, anxiety or shame on the part of the subject person, his/her family and the community
* immediately initiate contact-tracing, where the team shall list down the names and important information about all persons known to have been in contact with persons under investigation (PUIs) for COVID-19 or places they have been prior to their arrival
* require arriving resident/s to check and record their body temperature at least three times daily for 14 days of voluntarily quarantine
* advise arriving resident/s to watch out for symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulty of breathing
* check the condition of arriving resident/s daily from a distance of not less than one meter when not wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE); however, to ensure infection prevention and control, always wear the appropriate PPE before coming near or getting in contact with PUI
* if symptoms are observed, immediately isolate and confine the arriving resident, now a PUI, prior to his or her immediate safe transfer to the BUI or a Department of Health-designated referral center or quarantine facility, for further examination and treatment
* place the rest of the household under 14 days home confinement; repeat the process for them, including contact-tracing
* if no symptoms are observed after the 14-day voluntarily quarantine, report to the punong barangay who will, in turn, inform the city or municipal health officer and recommend lifting of the quarantine and certify the PUIs free from COVID-19 infection
* report daily to the punong barangay the condition of the PUI, including all measures and actions taken./PN