SIBALOM, Antique – Acting Mayor Zoilo Bernardo Tubianosa ordered barangay officials to help in contact tracing activities.
Cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Sibalom are surging. As of April 20, it had 46 active cases.
Tubianosa, in Executive Order (EO) No. 2021- 020-IV, stressed: “There is a need for a more effective and systematic contract tracing…to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus.”
Sibalom has 76 barangays.
The Department of Interior and Local Government issued an advisory on April 6 enjoining the support and cooperation of barangay officials and ensure uninterrupted contact tracing. They were specifically told to facilitate the following:
Informing and profiling
* track address / location of close contacts in the barangay
*. inform close contacts via phone or home visit that they are identified as having exposure to a case
* assist in the conduct of profiling and provide required information to the Team.
Quarantine and isolation
* assist in the conduct of daily monitoring and compliance of close contacts to quarantine/isolation protocol
* ensure non-medical needs of close contacts under quarantine are addressed
* monitor compliance of residents to community mitigation or measures
* within existing laws and policies, provide appropriate disciplinary action for non-compliant close contacts, residents and establishments
Referral to facilities
* ensure that referrals by the BHERTs (Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams) are immediately acted upon
* facilitate transport requests as needed
Tubianosa said a barangay council has “the duty to notify its constituents of events of public health concern.”
“The constituents must be advised to avoid all settings, places and gatherings where the suspect, probable and confirmed cases have been. Those who were in the same event or place as a confirmed cases must self-monitor and contact local health authorities if signs and symptoms appear,” he stressed./PN
