BY MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. has disclosed that “home quarantine” is the leading cause of community transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country.
In a presser on Thursday night, Galvez said that the practice of home quarantine for asymptomatic and mild patients remains one of the primary contributing factors in the rapid spread of the virus in Metro Manila, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon or Region IV-A), Central Visayas (Region VII), Iligan City, and Bacolod among other areas with high number of infections.
“Naninindigan po tayo sa ating paniniwalang hindi makakabuti ang home quarantine sa karamihan ng mga pasyente, especially for mild or asymptomatic cases,” he said.
“The longer a COVID-19 patient stays in his/her home, the greater the chances that he or she will infect others,” he added.
Galvez also said that the lack of knowledge of local government units (LGUs) in the end-to-end system of contact tracing, and lack of quarantine facilities are the other factors in the rapid spread of the virus.
The observations were noted by Galvez from the feedback of local chief executives after he visited areas around the country where cases of infection remain high.
Nonetheless, the chief implementer assured that the problems are already being addressed by the NTF by increasing the country’s testing capacity for early detection of cases, building more isolation facilities, intensifying contact tracing, and capacitating hospitals for treatment of patients.
He said on August 27, a total of 41,934 tests were conducted in one day.
The Department of Health said a total of 2,539, 354 individuals have already been tested as of Thursday.
The government aims to test 10 million Filipinos by 2021.
