Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17) — Children with COVID-19 cases that are not severe or critical could be managed at home provided certain conditions are met, the Health Department said Tuesday.
“Ang mga batang nagpositibo po sa COVID-19 at walang sintomas o di kaya may mild or moderate na sintomas ay maaari munang alagaan sa ating bahay basta titiyakin po natin na nasusunod ang mga gabay for home isolation,” Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a Palace briefing.
[Translation: Kids who test positive for COVID-19 and don’t have symptoms or have mild or moderate symptoms may be cared for in our homes provided we can assure guidelines for home isolation are being met.]
Home management can be done for patients cleared by doctors as long as they have their own rooms and bathrooms and are regularly monitored by health professionals and the local government unit.
Meanwhile, pediatric patients who need to be brought to a hospital or isolation facility should be accompanied by an adult family member or relative, Vergeire said.
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“Kung hindi po ito pwede mangyari ay maaaring sa bahay na lang po mag-quarantine or isolate ang ating mga kabataan,” she added.
[Translation: If this cannot be observed, our kids can quarantine or isolate in their homes instead.]
Reintegrating kids positive for COVID-19
Vergeire also said the criteria observed for allowing children who contracted the disease back into society is similar to the ones used for adult patients.
This means, symptomatic patients with mild symptoms may be allowed to interact with loved ones again 10 days after the onset of their symptoms, plus 24 hours of being clinically recovered or showing no symptoms.
Those with moderate, severe, or critical symptoms may be reintegrated after 21 days from the onset of symptoms, plus 24 hours of being clinically recovered.
Immunocompetent cases with no symptoms will be allowed back into their communities 10 days after they tested positive for COVID-19, while the period lasts for at least 14 days from date of exposure for close contacts who remain asymptomatic.
The country currently has over 1.76 million COVID-19 cases, with tens of thousands of new infections logged in the past days as Filipinos grapple with the threat of the feared Delta variant.
