MANILA – The practice of home quarantine for asymptomatic patients in containing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is ineffective, according to former Department of Health secretary Janette Garin.
Garin, now a congresswoman of Iloilo’s
1st District and a medical doctor by profession, said in a radio interview
yesterday that the Philippines should learn from the mistakes made by China’s
Wuhan City – origin of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Chinese observed home quarantine for its asymptomatic patients from
December 2019 to January 2020 but failed to suppress the spread of the virus.
Garin said: “We cannot expect ‘yung non-medical
personnel at ‘yung non-hospital
setting na pareho ang gagawin sa loob ng
bahay.”
“If we proceed to a modified community quarantine, napakaimportante po na ‘yung positibo ay talagang separated, ‘yung posibleng meron separated din at ‘yung sigurado tayong wala ay pakonti-konti, gradual, ay may physical distancing at may hygiene practices,” she added.
Earlier, a 12-man team of Chinese
experts who went to the Philippines in order to assess the country’s response
to the pandemic also said that putting COVID-19 patients under home quarantine
is also ineffective./PN
