Guv eyes stricter isolation policy for city-goers

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

The Iloilo provincial government’s signature reverse isolation policy may find more claws as Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. is seeking its stricter implementation for residents who frequently travel to Iloilo City.

Reverse isolation, as the governor told Daily Guardian in a phone interview, is about isolating one’s self inside the home, with their separate sleeping quarters, other house facilities, and equipment.

It aims to reduce the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission.

The reverse isolation policy encourages individuals coming from Iloilo City, which is considered as high-risk to COVID-19 exposure, by minimizing their contacts with others once they go home to any of the 42 towns and the component city of Passi.

Reverse isolation is applied to those who have had prolonged stay in hospitals, health facilities or work places.

Defensor had said in a recent press conference that according to data by the Iloilo Provincial Health Office, 65 percent of COVID-19 cases in the towns can be traced to those who came back from Iloilo City, which has seen a spike in the number of of locally transmitted cases since August.

Defensor on Oct. 17 issued Executive Order No. 183-C, which further amends EO 183 issued on Aug. 17, detailing their Plan for Rehabilitation and Transformation of the Province of Iloilo to Catalyze Recovery (Plan RT-PCR).

EO 183-B issued on Sept. 30 amended the provision on reverse isolation, only stating that it shall also be applicable to residents of the Province who travel to or stay in Iloilo City “because of work, business, availment of essentials, or for any allowed activities.”

The new amendments under EO 138-C expand the prior version, and now provides for different mandates in different scenarios.

For those who travel to the city only occasionally for essential purposes, such as business, work, or to buy essential goods should practice the “3M” strategy (“Mag Maskara, Mas Distancia, kag Maghinaw”), which refer to wearing of masks, proper handwashing, and proper physical distancing of 1.5 meters.

Those who regularly travel to the city on a daily basis for business, work, or other allowed activities (except for treatment or visits to hospitals or healthcare facilities), should practice reverse isolation in their homes.

Residents who travelled to the city for a visit to a hospital or medical facility for less than 24 hours, on an occasional basis, should be placed under reverse isolation in their homes.

But residents who have already stayed at hospitals or medical facilities in the city for more than 24 hours shall be placed under home quarantine, with reverse isolation, for more than 14 days.

The municipal government may also provide a 14-day facility-based quarantine if the conditions in the homes are not viable for reverse isolation.

In a press conference, Defensor explained that reverse isolation was a method in response to the lack of border restrictions between the city and province of Iloilo, and ultimately for economic reasons.

“We cannot impose inter-zonal restrictions because the economy of the city and province of Iloilo are dependent on each other,” he added.

He clarified in a phone interview that reverse isolation was not a restriction to those under 21 years old or above 65 years old.

These age groups were cleared by Malacañang last week to be able to go out of their homes.

“In our policy, we only highly discourage those above 65 to go out of their homes. If they want to go out for work or to buy food, that’s okay. But we also have this reverse isolation policy in place, especially if they have comorbidities in place, which we encourage, to ensure that they would be protected, even in their own households,” he added.