Quezon City urges residents to self-report

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government yesterday urged residents to self-report if they are probable or confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to help prevent the spread of the virus.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said self-reporting will enable the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) and barangay health emergency response teams to immediately respond and complete contact tracing.

“Every day and every hour is important, so self-reporting helps the Philippines end the COVID-19 pandemic faster,” she said.

With self-reporting, Belmonte said individuals exposed to the virus can help prevent its possible spread to their family, friends and co-workers.

She said the city will provide positive and probable patients with free quarantine accommodations through its HOPE community quarantine facilities, where skilled health care workers can take of them.

CESU head Rolly Cruz said there have been cases where they only learned about the status long after results have been released due to a number of reasons.

“It is possible that an individual was tested in a health facility outside of Quezon City, or that there are weaknesses in COVID-19 information systems,” she said. “Or perhaps hospitals and laboratory facilities are lacking in available encoders.”

Belmonte earlier called on the Department of Health to release complete data of positive cases to ensure that contact tracing is immediately conducted.

She noted cases where addresses and contact details are not available, hampering efforts to trace those who have been possibly exposed to the illness.

Cruz said self-reporting may be accomplished through the respective hotlines of barangays, as well as the CESU Facebook accounts, hotlines and email [email protected].

Self-reporting must contain significant information such as the person’s name, birth date, exact address, contact number, work and company name and the date when symptoms started.

The city government assured residents that the data will be kept strictly confidential and will not be used for any purpose except contact tracing.