FOLLOWING a recent order from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for all barangays to form their own Barangay Health Emergency Response Team (BHERT), some village chiefs in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue bared preparations in case some of their constituents would be among those quarantined for recently traveling to China.
In Mandaue City, Barangay Tabok chief Dario Tarriman told SunStar Cebu they already have personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks ready for their BHERT.
A barangay resolution requires constituents to report anyone new to the barangay for monitoring.
Meanwhile, Barangay Subangdaku village chief and Mandaue City Association of Barangay Councils president Ernie Manatad said they were immediately able to form their BHERT.
Under the DILG circular, the BHERT must be composed of an executive officer, a barangay tanod, and two barangay health workers , one of them a nurse or a midwife.
In Cebu City, Inayawan chief Kirk Bryan Repollo said the barangay has a standby ambulance and emergency personnel ready to respond 24/7. Though he admits their personnel are not equipped to handle 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease cases, he hopes the Department of Health will provide them with proper guidance.
In Basak-Pardo, Barangay Capt. Catalina Cabardo said they have converted the third floor of their barangay hall into a quarantine area. A nurse deployed from the Cebu City government is assigned there to assist them, she added.
In Talisay City, Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. said they plan to buy more face masks for distribution to rural health units, the elderly and the sick as a precaution against the 2019-nCoV ARD.
The City also plans to acquire safety gear such as suits, gloves and sanitizers. (FMD, KFD)