Kalinga crafts uniform referral policy, guidelines, opts Rapid Antigen Test as substitute for RT-PCR

Tabuk City, Kalinga – As a result of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force virtual meeting held Sunday, April 4, 2021, the officials of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital and all district hospitals in the province agreed to apply a uniform referral policy and guidelines and the use of Rapid Antigen test (AgT) to solve the arising issues in the management of Covid-19 patients.

Said decisions were made as hospitals and laboratories in Baguio City, Benguet and Isabela catering the province about symptomatic referrals and laboratory testing of collected specimen are already overwhelmed making them prioritize their constituents when it comes to said health services. In addition to that, positive cases and contact tracing concerns in the province continuously to grow in number.

With the decision, the use of the Rapid Antigen Test (AgT) shall now serve as substitute for RT-PCR diagnostic testing of suspect cases including close contacts or probable cases whether symptomatic or asymptomatic.

If RT- PCR is available, close contacts showing no manifestations of said disease will be tested for the rapid antigen test after 3 days of being quarantined. If negative, they have to complete the 14-day home quarantine before they will be allowed to resume work. If positive, close contact shall undergo RT PCR test.

If RT-PCR is not available, close contacts without symptoms or signs of COVID infection shall undergo home quarantine, isolation and self- monitoring for 11 days. After that, if no symptoms occurred within the quarantine period, said close contacts shall undergo rapid antigen test.

If tested negative, they shall be allowed to resume work, and if result yields positive, close contacts shall undergo RT-PCR test or go through the same process on the abovementioned.

As for mild symptomatic close contacts, the task force said they shall isolate and quarantine, either in a TTMF or home, if applicable to their respective community health protocols, for minimum of 14 days, with appropriate supportive care.

The guideline also stated that for symptomatic patients, they will undergo rapid antigen upon consultation. If negative, continue isolation for minimum of 14 days, with appropriate care. If positive result, RTPCR test is required. Repeat of rapid antigen may be done after 3 days of being asymptomatic.

‘For patients with mild COVID-19 disease, supportive care is recommended. These include antipyretics for fever, oral fluids for hydration, isolation in temporary treatment and monitoring facilities and other district hospitals and private hospitals or, if applicable, at home,’ the guideline further reads.

Patients with moderate, severe and critical symptoms shall be admitted to the Kalinga Provincial Hospital and shall be managed accordingly, following the latest Interim Management Guidelines for COVID-19 of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Inc. IV.

Other guidelines are as follows:

· For confirmed/positive COVID19 cases with severe to critical symptoms, they shall be referred to a designated level 2 or level 3 COVID-19 hospital, however, in cases wherein referral hospitals have no vacancy, management of said patients will be continued at the KPH until such time that they will be transferred to a higher level facility.

· All patients prior to transfer should be coordinated to KPH preferably thru calls (COVID19 TASKFORCE HOTLINE: GLOBE: 09060415467 SMART: 09984663577) with complete medical history , vital signs and pertinent physical examination to be done by the attending physician from referring hospital or other health care facility. In instances that the isolation ward is full, decking of patients will be done, unless the patient is in a severe to critical condition, they must be immediately transferred to a higher-level hospital.

· Only qualified licensed healthcare professionals in local health offices, health facilities, accredited quarantine and isolation facilities and certified COVID 19 confirmatory laboratory facilities are authorized to administer rapid antigen tests and interpret its results.

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