Local health exec, cops visiting houses to search for mild COVID-19 cases in accordance with law — Año

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday said the measure in which local health officials and cops would go house-to-house to search for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases is in accordance with law.

Interviewed on GMA Network's Unang Hirit, Año cited Republic Act 11332 or "An Act Providing Policies and Prescribing Procedures on Surveillance and Response to Notifiable Diseases, Epidemics, and Health Events of Public Health Concern."

"Ito ay nasasa-ayon sa batas... Doon sa Section IV, Letter F, Paragraph 3 nakalagay diyan, 'to ensure that public health authorities have the statutory regulatory authority to ensure the following: mandatory reporting, epidemic investigation and quarantine and isolation..." Año said.

Año said those individuals who would not cooperate with authorities can be penalized under the said law.

"Sa Section IX naman, kapag non-cooperation of persons with the disease, mayroon siyang tinatawag na penalty, one to six months imprisonment or P20,000 to P50,000 na fine. Ibig sabihin, nasa batas talaga na dapat may authority talaga ang public health officials natin na ilabas, iquarantine 'yung mga communicable diseases at pag di ka magcooperate, puwede kang ikulong," he said.

Año has clarified that police officers would not lead in visiting houses to search for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases as the local epidemiological surveillance unit will be the one to lead.

He also assured the public that local health officials are well-equipped with the needed list and well-protected in going from one house to another. Año said this practice would only be done in areas placed under localized lockdown or those with a high number of COVID-19 cases.

Año's statement on Tuesday that cops would go house-to-house to search for mild COVID-19 cases has alarmed the public, with some even comparing it to Oplan Tokhang, the police force's intensified anti-drug campaign that human rights advocates are linking to thousands of deaths of drug suspects.

The national government has discouraged home quarantine for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, saying it is prone to abuse. 

The Inter-Agency Task Force and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 already started Oplan Kalinga, which aims to escort COVID-19 patients from their houses to government isolation facilities. — RSJ, GMA News