Bogotá, August 11, 2020. The Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz, explained Decree 1109, in Prevention and Action, that formally created the Program for Testing, Tracking and Sustainable Selective Isolation (PRASS).
"We had a first stage in which we tried to contain the contagion through a general quarantine. Once we lowered the speed of contagion, we implemented flexible isolation and gradually opened the economy," explained Ruiz, noting that when the peaks of the cities are reached and then are lowered, it is important to look for mechanisms to contain the virus inside the houses, to have the isolation very early on and that there be the least possible contagion.
That is why Decree 1109, issued yesterday, formally created the Program for Testing, Tracking and Sustainable Selective Isolation (PRASS). "It is a supplementary strategy to the follow-up of cases and contacts that is carried out through public health surveillance," said the head of the health ministry.
The objective, he indicated, is to isolate positive cases with their families, even before testing, and then recognition and economic benefits are established for this so that families have their isolation in the strictest way and avoid contagion.
In the aspect of sampling, the province and district territorial entities will do so under two circumstances: when they are taken in crowds and when they are taken from the uninsured poor population.
When it comes to individual care, samples must be taken by the EPSs, the entities obliged to compensate and the administrators of the special systems.
"The employer, concurrently with the occupational risk administrator, will do so in the case of health workers, epidemiological surveillance personnel and administrative or cleaning and support personnel who provide services related to covid," he added.
"The test results must be uploaded to SegCovid, the monitoring platform created by the Ministry of Health," Ruiz explained.
Regarding tracking, he confirmed that the province or district health offices will do it when it refers to the uninsured poor population; EPSs, entities obliged to compensate or administrators of special systems will do it when the contact is identified in the context of individual care; and the municipal health offices will do it to non-labor contacts of health workers.
Isolation sustainability
To support the preventive isolation of households with positive cases, the Minister of Health explained that those enrolled with the contributory system who cannot work because of covid will receive their respective disabilities from their EPSs (or their ARL if it is an occupational disease). In addition, people enrolled with the contributory system who have covid, but are not disabled, should prioritize teleworking.
"Those enrolled with the subsidized system, who are diagnosed, will receive a temporary economic compensation that is given through the ADRES to ensure that they will have economic sustainability while they are isolated," he said.
Lastly, the minister addressed the issue of biosecurity protocols for gyms and training centers. "We are starting the pilot of gym protocols with Pereira, to have the possibility of increasing physical activity and supporting all people during compulsory preventive isolation," he said.
