DOH: Contact tracing set for ‘Simbang Gabi’ attendees

MANILA, Philippines — As this year’s Simbang Gabi is set to start tomorrow, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has sought the conduct of contact tracing for those who will attend the dawn masses.

According to Duque, contact tracing is an important aspect of the coronavirus response to prevent the spread of the disease.

“They should do contact tracing because overall, it helps a lot in our fight against COVID-19. It is an important aspect of our protocols that should not be disregarded,” he told radio station dzRH yesterday.

Contact tracing is part of the strategy called Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR), which is central to the National Action Plan toward the new normal.

In doing contact tracing, the name and other contact information of a person must be taken.

This is intended to make sure that they can be reached in case they come in contact with a person who turns out to be positive for COVID-19.

He urged those in charge of Simbang Gabi and other authorities in the community to strictly implement health protocols such as physical distancing, wearing of masks and face shields and hand washing and hand sanitation.

“We are confident that the PDITR strategy will further reduce COVID-19 cases and deaths. Non-pharmaceutical interventions are still the best when dealing with COVID-19,” Duque noted.

Duque also said that private hospitals should allocate 20 percent of their beds to COVID-19 patients to brace for the expected spike in cases this Christmas season.

“We are appealing to our private hospitals to comply with the mandated bed allocation for COVID-19 patients,” he said, referring to the provisions in DOH Administrative Order No. 2020-016.

Under the AO, the minimum health system capacity standards for both private and public sectors involved in the COVID-19 response have been set.

It stated that public hospitals should earmark at least 30 percent of its total bed capacity for COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, private hospitals should set aside least 20 percent of their beds.

As of Dec. 7, DOH recorded a nationwide average of 30 percent.

“Everyone now is preparing for the holidays. We should also prepare for possible scenarios,” he added.