PRIVACY be dammed when people’s lives are at stake. All else is of no importance and nothing could be more graphic to illustrate that point than what the whole world is now facing, the coronavirus a.k.a. SARS-CoV-2 or more popularly known as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The very survival of humanity is now hanging in the balance. So far no end is in sight. There is no vaccine or cure yet developed and you’re more concerned about your privacy and “reputation” or more specifically what people will say if you are a “suspect”, “probable” or “confirmed” case of COVID-19?
Whatever cover-up you do, only two things are certain – either you’re negative or positive. So no amount of PR will help you. If you’re negative then well and good, life goes on. But if you’re positive then again only two things are certain, you survive or you die.
If you feel lost in translation here, let me help you and clarify these new terms used by the Department of Health or DOH:
Excerpts from an April 11, 2020 news report from CNN Philippines:
The Department of Health announced on Saturday it will stop using the terms “patients under investigation” and “patients under monitoring” to categorize COVID-19 cases.
Those under watch will soon be called “confirmed,” “suspect” and “probable” cases.
The DOH said it will classify people who tested positive for COVID-19 as confirmed cases.
Individuals who show symptoms of influenza-like illness such as fever and dry cough, those with travel history to areas with confirmed local transmission of COVID-19, and people with exposure to a confirmed case will be categorized as “suspect” cases.
Elderly people (60 years old and above), women with high-risk pregnancy, immune compromised persons or those with weakened immune system and health care workers who experience fever, cough or difficulty in breathing, and people with lung diseases of unknown cause will also be considered as “suspect” cases.
These are the groups thought to be at higher risk of infection or have a higher percentage of fatalities.
Suspect cases who are awaiting COVID-19 test results, who are not yet tested, or whose throat and nasal swabs were examined in an unaccredited testing facility could be called “probable” cases.
Persons under monitoring or PUMs — individuals who have come in contact with a confirmed case, or have traveled to a country or territory with local transmission of COVID-19 but are asymptomatic — are not included in the new classification.
It is a matter of life or death that people are aware who these “probable”, “suspect” and “confirmed” COVID-19 cases are for the simple reason of avoiding them and staying away from them as far as possible.
And this has nothing to do with if you like them or not, if they have offensive body odor, or if their breathe stinks like a cesspool. It is a matter of survival, most particularly your survival.
Take note, in these troubled times your very first instinct is to save yourself and those you love be it your family, lover, dog or the family jewels. Political correctness flies out the window in favor of survival.
You can just go back to being a “politically correct”, trendy, social-climbing millennial and hate Duterte when this is all over. In the meantime all that hashtag #oustduterte didn’t seem to work and you woke up the next morning and Duterte is still president.
Speaking of all that entitlement and hubris, aside from the now infamous Sen. Koko Pimentel who broke quarantine and deliberately did not disclose to Makati Medical Center personnel that he is a “probable”, “suspect” or “confirmed” COVID-19 case, a similar situation also happened here in Iloilo.
Sometime during the second week of March, microfinance cooperative had a conference, some say it was a management conference despite the very obvious pronouncements of the mayor and governor discouraging and prohibiting people from meetings and gatherings because of the looming COVID-19 spread.
The official pronouncement of the prohibition of gatherings and meeting and similar activities came out March 10, 2020 and according to the organization’s so-called “public advisory and appeal” which came out on social media, the last known contact of their people was March 19, 2020.
The result was one official died due to COVID-19 infection while two became positive and in hospital. Meanwhile, through contact tracing it appears that these positive officials had direct contact with 160 other members of the cooperative.
Just imagine how many more people came into contact with these “suspect” and possibly “probable” 160 members – a situation very much like Italy is in the offing.
A list of the 160 suspects were made public in social media and to try to cover their tracks it seems that the organization threatened to file charges against those who made public the list.
Good thing we now have this (excerpts from the April 13, 2020 issue of Panay News):
Public disclosure of COVID-19 patients’ info now mandatory
The disclosure of personal information of patients positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now mandatory, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for Emerging Infectious Disease.
IATF spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said this policy will enhance the contact-tracing efforts of the government.
“Para po matulungan ang contact-tracing efforts ng ating pamahalaan, mandatory o required na po ang paglalahad ng personal na impormasyon pagdating sa ating mga COVID-19 cases,” Nograles said.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) was tasked to spearhead the contact-tracing with the help of the local government units (LGUs).
“For this purpose, the DOH (Department of Health) and the OCD are directed to enter into a data-sharing agreement in accordance with Republic Act No. 10173 or the “Data Privacy Act,” Nograles said.
So there you go. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
