The city government here will roll out its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) home care system to manage residents with mild symptoms.

Mabalacat City Covid-19 Response Integrated System (CRIS) czar Dr. Jose Antonio Rivera said in a radio interview on Tuesday the approach aims to extend the city’s health management programs for infected residents within the safety of their own homes.

Rivera added the system is to prevent medical and quarantine facilities in the city from getting overwhelmed.

The approach originally set to be implemented in the city in 2021 has been patterned to Canada’s home management for Covid patients.

“Nakita ng ating CRIS secretariat iyong kahalagahan ng home quarantine. Karamihan sa ating mga Mabalaqueños, ang kanilang nararamdaman ay mild symptoms lamang. Kahit mild ito, we should be cautious and ready. We will now be jumpstarting our home care package program. Ito iyong naantalang programa natin last year dahil nag-concentrate tayo sa vaccination (The CRIS secretariat saw the importance of home quarantine. Most of the Mabalaqueños are experiencing only mild symptom. Even though it is mild, we should be cautious and ready. We will now be jumpstarting our home care package program. This is the program which was delayed because we concentrated in the vaccination),” Rivera said.

He also said the city government will strictly adhere to the DOH’s guidelines and parameters before allowing a patient to be admitted under the city’s home care program.

Households will be subjected to ocular inspection to make sure that home infrastructures are suitable for quarantine, and that no family member will be put at risk, he added.

Under the Mabalacat City Home Care System, all patients will be under the supervision of a designated rural health unit (RHU) nurse and physician who will serve as health management officers (HMOs).

Regular consultations will be performed through telemedicine and the emergency hotline number.

Likewise, patients will also be provided with a home care package that includes a thermometer, a pulse oximeter, and medicines to manage patient’s symptoms.

The city will also be deploying a mobile X-ray service.

“Ito po ang ating magiging formula upang makatulong sa mga taga-Mabalacat dahil karamihan sa ating mga residente ang kanilang sintomas ay mild lamang. Almost 80 percent of them would rather stay home at kung ganoon, mayroon tayong serbisyong kailangang ibigay sa kanila bilang tugon ng ating CRIS program (This will be our formula in order to help those in Mabalacat because most of the residents, their symptoms are just mild. Almost 80 percent of them would rather stay home and if that the case, we have services that need to be provided to them in response to our CRIS program),” Rivera said.

As of January 11, there are 39 new Covid-19 cases reported in the city, bringing the total active cases to 225.

The total number of confirmed cases rose to 7,467 while the total number of recoveries is 7,013. On the other hand, the total number of deaths is 229. (PNA)