City now has 387 barangay health emergency teams

Baguio City now has a total of 387 Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) to carry out Covid-19 control measures in the grassroots.
Mayor Benjie Magalong said the number is now more than the requirement under the minimum health system capacity standards for Covid-19 preparedness and response strategies set by the Department of Health under Administrative Order 2020-0016 for local government units, which is one BHERT for every 1,000 residents.
He thanked the Department of the Interior and Local Government Baguio field office under Director Evelyn Trinidad for spearheading the creation of the teams.
In her report to the mayor, Trinidad said to comply with the DOH requirement, the city needed a total of 370 BHERTs, but 387 teams were actually organized.
The report showed 15 barangays formed additional teams to address the needs of their population.
Irisan barangay has the most number with 34 teams followed by Asin Road with 14, Camp 7 with 13, and Loakan Proper with 11.
The mayor last July 1 ordered the formation of more BHERTs to comply with the DOH requirement and for the city to “effectively maintain and carry out standard preparedness mechanisms against Covid-19. 
Before the order, the city only has one BHERT per one barangay.
The BHERT is tasked to keep a list of persons in the barangay who had been to Covid-19-afflicted areas and submit the list to the City Inter-Agency Task Force chaired by the mayor.
The BHERTs also enforce home confinement for persons arriving from the other areas, in coordination with the Department of Health; extend assistance and support to persons undergoing home confinement; and refer and transport Covid patients.
BHERT members shall also conduct regular barangay-wide cleanup and educate their constituents on proper hygiene and sanitation practices in accordance to the guidelines provided by the DOH.
The team is composed of a chairperson, a barangay tanod, a barangay health worker, a barangay nutrition action officer, and a barangay nutrition scholar. At least one member must be a registered nurse or midwife.
The mayor said the BHERTs may be augmented by physicians, nurses, midwives, sanitary inspectors, population officers, Bureau of Fire Protection staff, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office staff, or volunteers.  – Aileen P. Refuerzo