DOH should’ve been ‘clearer’ about home quarantine guidelines — Palace

Malacañang said on Thursday the Department of Health (DOH) should have emphasized the guidelines on home quarantine early on as the Philippines struggles to contain the spread of COVID-19.

According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, the DOH failed to point out that COVID-19 patients under home quarantine should have their own room and bathroom.

The guidelines also provide that the patient must not be sharing the house with an elderly, pregnant, or person with an illness.

“I have to recognize the DOH perhaps should have been clearer at the onset na stay at home if you have your own room and your own bathroom,” Roque said in a televised briefing.

“Kaya tingin ko, isa sa dahilan ito kaya tumaas ang numero natin. Pero we are rectifying it now, we have fully intensified our testing.”

Recently, the government launched Oplan Kalinga in which patients who fail to meet the qualifications for home quarantine will be escorted from their houses to government isolation facilities.

Local health officials will lead in going house-to-house to search for mild and asymptomatic cases. The police will provide support or assistance in the transport of patients.

The Philippines has so far reported 72,269 COVID-19 cases, including 1,843 deaths and 23,623 recoveries as of Wednesday.