Medical groups appeal for stricter measures vs COVID-19

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Officers and members of different medical groups issued a joint statement on March 26, 2020, appealing for stricter border control and observe stringent infection control measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The call was addressed to the Iloilo City Government, the Iloilo Provincial Government and the Department of Health (DOH).

The groups appealed to the DOH Center for Health Development 6 to:

– to immediately stop transferring COVID-19 patients from other provinces to hospitals within the city and the province that have been identified as COVID-19 dedicated hospitals;

– to ensure that the lockdown is strictly implemented within the city and province to ensure the containment of the COVID-19 virus;

– to consider all Persons Under Investigation (PUI) as positive and to immediately conduct contact tracing prior to the release of test results as this will aid in containing the spread;

– to capacitate the provincial hospitals in other provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Negros Occidental) so they will not have to refer their patients to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City;

– to provide frontliners and healthcare workers the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) so they can be safe as they take care of COVID-19 patients;

– to order prohibiting the admission of COVID-19 patients to non-COVID-19 dedicated hospitals whether public or private, and impose the rule regardless of financial or social status; and

– to use COVID-19 test kits prudently and ensure that only those who fit the criteria are tested.

The statement was signed by the presidents of Iloilo Medical Society, Philippine College of Surgeons – Panay Chapter, Philippine Society of General Surgeons – Panay Chapter, Philippine College of Physicians – Western Visayas Chapter, Philippine Society of Anesthesiologists – Iloilo Panay Chapter, Philippine Pediatric Society – Western Visayas Chapter, and Philippine Obstetrics and Gynecologic Society.

The groups expressed their concern that the current border control measures by the city and the province as well as the mixing of patients will lead to more risks, especially in hospitals and health care workers.

“The unimpeded transmission of the disease process through lax border control and the inordinate mixing of [COVID-19] and [non-COVID-19] patients shall not only lead to unnecessary morbidity and mortality in the general population, but also to the insurmountable strain on the most significant resource needed to combat this problem – the hospitals and the health care workers,” the statement added.

As of 12 p.m. of March 24, 2020, there are four confirmed COVID-19 cases in Western Visayas, 211 PUIs and 32,580 Persons Under Monitoring (PUM).

PUIs are persons with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 who have been previously exposed to confirmed cases and/or traveled to infected areas either here or abroad, while PUMs are persons who have no signs and symptoms but have travel history to infected areas and/or have had exposure to PUIs.