THE Provincial Government of Pampanga headed by Governor Dennis Pineda on Friday, January 31, met with local health officials to look into the current steps and protocols undertaken to keep Pampanga safe from the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).
The meeting held at the Capitol was attended by representatives of the Provincial Health Office, Pampanga Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Education (DepEd) and Jose B. Lingad Regional Memorial Hospital (JBLRMH).
The meeting enumerated in detail the protocol to be undertaken in case of a positive infection in the province. Pineda said the province is on top of the situation and will mobilize resources and manpower if the need arises.
“Kailangan natin iprepare ang mga tao natin. Hindi na kailangan may case muna tayo bago tayo gumalaw,” he said.
(We need to prepare. It is not necessary to confirm a case before we do actions.)
To assure that the province is ready for any potential risk of the 2019-nCoV ARD, an organized system measure was established intended to handle cases of the said virus in communities, schools, and hospitals.
For students in both public and private schools, the DepEd advised that they will release a memorandum order to require teachers in every school to conduct morning health assessment of their students. The DepEd said that if a student will acquire possible symptoms of the virus, the teacher-in-charge must refer him or her to the nearest the rural health unit.
In the village level and for hospitals, health authorities are advised to conduct assessment interviews on patients who are placed under monitoring and investigation. All patients will be referred to the municipal health officer or rural health physician for further check-up using an authorized assessment tool provided by DOH.
Once symptoms are detected, the patient will be referred to the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (PESU) or Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) for possible admission to JBLRMH.
For hospitals, once validation from RESU or PESU is released, the patient will then be endorsed to the Regional Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) before the patient is admitted.
The governor said that there is no reason for his Kabalens to panic amid the nCoV scare.
“I assure the Kapampangans na there is no need to panic, no cause for alarm, wala po tayong dapat i-worry right now. Everything is handled well by the provincial government.”
Pineda encouraged the public to remain critical against circulation of fake news online.
“Maging responsible po tayo sa mga pino-post po natin at huwag po tayo agad magpapanic. Definitely, lahat po ng private and public hospital nakaconnect lahat yan sa DOH. In case na may confirmed tayong case, we’ll definitely inform the public right away.”
(Be responsible for out social media pots and do not panic. Definitely, all of the private and public hospitals are connected to the DOH. In case, there will be a confirmed case, we will definitely inform the public right away.)
The governor also appealed to Kapampangans to avoid traveling to and from affected countries to reduce the risk of entry of the virus in the province.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), “Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).”
Common signs of infection include “respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.”
Meanwhile, the DOH reiterated that there are no recorded cases of positive infection in Pampanga as of press time. The agency also said that reports of possible cases at the JBLRMH and at the Angeles University Foundation are not true.
The DOH also reminded the public not to give in to panic and verify all information they see on social media regarding 2019-nCOV. The DOH said that sharing unfounded and misleading information will not help the public in the current situation. (With PR)