Longing to curb the rising cases in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) shared Tuesday that the agency suggested to shorten the isolation of fully-vaccinated healthcare workers who are close contacts of COVID-19 patients.
According to DOH Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire, the move to cut down the quarantine period would help to diminish the time medical workers consumed out of the hospital and instead be maximized for their duty.
Vergeire moreover said that the policy is ready to be issued once approved but it has to be closely studied by experts and is still being finalized to date.
“Magpapalabas din po tayo ng isang polisiya kung saan we will be shortening the quarantine period of those close contacts who are fully vaccinated na healthcare workers para naman po hindi 14 na araw nawawala sa ating ospital,” Vergeire shared in an interview.
(We will also be issuing a policy where we will be shortening the quarantine period of those close contacts who are fully vaccinated healthcare workers so they would no longer have to be away from the hospital for 14 long days.)
The Undersecretary added that the isolation period—once the policy is approved—will be cut short to 7 days provided, that the health worker’s swab test result on the fifth day of the quarantine turned out negative.
“Maaring 7 araw basta mayroon silang 5th-day testing at sila’y negatibo. Ito’y fina-finalize pa po,” Vergeire explained.
(It could be cut short to 7 days as long as they took their 5th day testing and it had negative result. This policy is still being finalized.)
“We need to vet with our experts, but if in case they agree we are going to issue this policy,” she added.
Dr. Jonas Del Rosario, the spokesperson of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) where 80 medical workers recently tested positive, has also reiterated that the longevity of the quarantine medical workers had affects the performance of frontliners.
“Most of our health care workers are vaccinated. Buti na lang at hindi sila malulubha kaya lang… kailangan din nila ng quarantine. ‘Yan po ay nakakapilay sa ating frontliners,” Del Rosario stressed.
(Most of our health care workers are vaccinated. It’s a relief that they are not in worse condition. However, they still need to undergo a quarantine. That disrupts our frontliners.)
As further reported by Vergeire, hospitals across the country remain scarce with enough healthcare workers, medical supplies, and hospital beds which are continuously sought for by the health agency in the height of the pandemic.
As of August 24, the Philippines has recorded 12,067 additional COVID-19 cases. Of these, 6.8 percent or 127,703 are considered active cases.