Barangay units in Baguio City have activated their barangay health emergency response teams (BHERTs) as precautionary measure to the growing threat of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
This is in response to the directive of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for all local government units to be on a state of preparedness and implement necessary protocols and procedures to prevent the further spread of the 2019-nCoV.
In Executive order No. 33 series of 2020, Mayor Benjamin Magalong ordered all barangay units to activate, mobilize and deploy their BHERTs and implement the directives as provided in the 2019 nCoV Interagency Task Force Plan of the city government.
City Health Services Officer Rowena Galpo said 98 of the 128 barangays in Baguio have immediately reactivated their BHERTs a day after receiving the mayor’s directive. Information-Education-Campaign (IEC) materials are also being distributed by the city health office to the district health centers.
She said the barangay officials and members of BHERTs will be oriented and informed of their duties and responsibilities during their weekly meeting at the City Multipurpose Hall every Friday.
The BHERTs is tasked to keep a list of persons in the barangays who came from areas declared to have the 2019-nCoV and submit the list to the Interagency Task Force chaired by Mayor Magalong.
The BHERTs shall also enforce a 14-day home confinement period for persons arriving from the nCoV affected areas, in coordination with the Department of Health; extend assistance and support to persons undergoing home confinement.
The group is likewise tasked to refer and transport suspected nCoV carriers to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, in coordination with the DOH and other police authorities.
BHERTs members shall conduct regular barangay-wide cleanup campaigns as well as provide information campaigns to educate their constituents on proper hygiene and sanitation practices, in accordance with the guideline provided by the DOH.
Under DILG rules, each barangay shall have a minimum of one BHERT with an additional unit for every 5,000 residents. The BHERT shall be composed of a chairperson, a barangay Tanod, a Barangay health Worker, a Barangay Nutrition Action Officer and a Barangay Nutrition Scholar where at least one member must be a registered nurse or midwife. ** Jessa Mardy Samidan
