Las Piñas to meet POGOs over 2019-nCoV

Las Piñas Mayor Imelda T. Aguilar is set to meet with the representatives of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the city as part of the monitoring campaign of the 2019 novel Coronal Virus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019-nCoV ARD) among its Chinese employees.

Mayor Aguilar said they just want to make sure that POGO workers who went home to China for the Chinese New Year and returned to Las Piñas are not afflicted by 2019-nCoV to allay fears that they may spread the virus to the other residents.

Presently, there are no documented cases of 2019 nCov in Las Piñas.

The mayor formed “Task Force Bantay nCoV” composed of the different departments and offices of the city government. She directed City Health Officer, Dr. Ferdinand Eusebio, to mobilize and train all doctors, nurses, health personnel and medical volunteers on how to respond properly in handling nCoV cases and adopt the necessary protocols to contain its spread.

She also underscored awareness among the people, particularly the importance of correct and accurate information through the official social media sites, billboards and flyers on how the spread of nCoV ARD could be prevented.

“In the wake of all these concerns over the fatal effect of nCoV ARD, we need to be calm and discerning and the most important is to have proper hygiene and keep a healthy lifestyle,” Mayor Aguilar said.

Meanwhile, the mayor reminded all the chairmen of the city’s 20 barangay (village) on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) directive to form their respective Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) to help the government address any situation resulting from the 2019-nCoV ARD.

All BHERT members, to be equipped with protective gears, would served as the “eyes and ears” in ensuring that all residents have full access to information on the 2019-nCoV ARD.

They are directed to visit the households in their barangay of passengers arriving from coronavirus-infected countries such as China, Macau, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The teams will also be tasked to record daily body temperatures of the passengers for the next 14 days of home confinement.”

If there are symptoms observed, BHERT members will be required to “immediately isolate” the nCoV-affected person in a room in the house far from the rest. But if the results turned out has negative of the virus, the case will still be reported by BHERT to the city health officer for the lifting of home confinement.