City residents and returning Kagay-anons that are undergoing home quarantine were reminded anew by Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno to stay at home and complete their two-week quarantine to completely avoid infecting others.

“We are aware of what’s happening but the challenge remains on how we preempt and solve our problem and to develop our response to this problem in particular on home quarantine,” Mayor Moreno said during Wednesday noon’s press briefing.

Mayor Moreno cited the returning Kagay-anons who secured permission from their respective barangays to undergo home quarantine provided they stay inside their rooms for two weeks.

“The likelihood of them going outside is a real possibility and presents bigger challenges and extra work for our barangay health workers who monitor them,” Mayor Moreno said.

City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said based on their data, about 397 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and 265 authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) underwent or are undergoing home quarantine from June 14 to July 27.

“Admittedly the home quarantine is our blind spot. Like in driving and basketball, there are blind spots in which we don’t see what’s happening. Which is why I prefer and insist that all arrivals be brought straight to the city isolation units for quarantine,” Mayor Moreno said.

Dr. Nery said home quarantine is allowed only when the returning Kagay-anon secures permission from the barangay he or she lives in and their homes were assessed by barangay health workers as suitable for quarantine. She said barangay officials can decide not to accept home quarantine if they choose to.

“Anyway it’s a matter of only seven days because the arrivals will undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests by then and if they test negative they can go home and continue their quarantine there. If they test positive they are brought immediately to the temporary treatment management facility,” Mayor Moreno said.