Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGIONAL OFFICE | Aguila Road, Sevilla, City of San Fernando, La Union wow region.dilg.gov.ph REGIONAL MEMORANDUM TO : DILG R1 PERSONNEL (Organic and Contract of Service) SUBJECT : COVID-19 MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OF DILG REGION | DATE July 30, 2021 Pursuant to existing laws and regulations governing the prevention, management and control of COVID-18, DILG Region 1 adopts the following guidelines to avoid transmission of the virus in the workplace: 1. COVID-19 PREVENTION 1. Face masks and face shields shall be properly worn upon entry to office and at all times while inside the office premises. A signage shall be strategically posted inside the regional/provincial offices as a reminder. 2. Allemployees are required to enroll with the Stay Safe Application of the Department or a digital contact tracing applications developed by the LGU to be used instead of the Health Declaration Form (HDF) (Annex A). In the absence of the Stay Safe App, the employees shall log his details in the logbook at the guardhouse and accomplish the HDF. 3. Have temperature check. For a temperature of above 37.5°C, the concerned personnel shall be sent home immediately and go on self-quarantine. 4. All employees shall pass through the foot bath located at the entrance of the office and shall disinfect hands with alcohol. 5. All employees shall always practice physical distancing at a minimum of one-meter space between each other. 6. Eating is not allowed in communal spaces. Employees are advised to eat in their respective work areas. 7. Employees are NOT allowed to engage in conversations without facemasks/face shields. 8. Avoid loitering/loafing inside the office premises. “Matino, Mahusay at Maaasahan” Tel. Nos. (072) 888 2108; 888 2289; 888 2294; 688 3106; 1 {888 7695; 607 1245; 607 1531; 607 4487 to 699. Proper cough etiquette shall ikewise be observed * Cover mouth and nose using tissue or sleeves/bend the elbow when coughing or sneezing ‘© Move away from people when coughing. * Do not spit anywhere but the comfort rooms. «Always wash hands after sneezing or coughing. 10. Only those who are scheduled to report for work shall be allowed entry in the office. If an ‘employee who is not scheduled to report for work and needs to report to the office to attend to urgent matters, he/she shall seek clearance from the Division ChiefiProvincial Director concerned and from the Administrative Division (for RO only) before he/she shall be allowed entry to the office premises. 11. Permission and clearance shall be presented to the Security Guard on duty who shall strictly log-in all entering and exiting personnel, with or without vehicles. 12. Employees who travel outside their official stations for at least three (3) days or more to monitor the implementation of various Department's programs, projects, and activities; to attend meetings and conferences; or for personal errands are hereby required to present a negative Antigen Test result to the Personnel Section, FAD or to the Provincial Director in the case of the provinces, upon return. Personnel who travel to high-risk areas even for Just one day need to present a negative Antigen Result. 13.When an employee or any member of his/her household is experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, sore throat, cough, colds, difficulty of breathing, loss of smell and taste, the employee should not report to office anymore. He/she shall notify his/her supervisor and the designated Safety Officer for close monitoring and implementation of DILG's COVID-19 Management Protocols. 14, Identified close contacts of suspect COVID-19 patients are advised to self-monitor and strictly adhere to minimum public health standards. Submit documents/proofs of exposure toa suspected COVID-19 patients to Personnel, Section, FAD for validation. If exposure becomes a probable or confirmed case, immediately go on home quarantine. 15. Strict Implementation of the “NO VISITOR POLICY” pursuant to DILG Circular No. 2020-12 dated May 2, 2020 (Annex B). Clients are advised to communicate with the Office through telephone, emails, or any other form of social media (messenger, viber, etc.) 16. Implementation of the “SMOKE-FREE WORKPLACES” pursuant to the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign relative to COVID-19. 47. Newly-hired personnel (both organic and contract of service) are required to submit a negative result of Antigen Test before entering the office premises. Il, ALTERNATIVE WORK ARRANGEMENTS 4. For the Regional Office, a skeletal workforce is established everyday which comprise not more than 50% of the total personnel complement. The names of personnel reporting are ‘submitted to Personnel, Section, FAD for monitoring and records purposes. For the Provincial Offices, Provincial Management shall make sure that personnel reporting does not exceed the 50% of the total personnel complement. Further, Field Officers are requiredto report to their official stations for at least three (3) days a week and work from home for two (2) days, unless they are required, otherwise. 2. In the Regional Office, shuttle services shall be arranged/provided to personnel who will be physically reporting to work. Provincial office personnel on skeletal schedule may also be provided at the discretion of the Provincial Director. Personnel availing the shuttle services shall strictly follow the minimum health protocols while inside the vehicle. 3. Personnel who shall work from home shall maintain an open communication throughout office hours (8:00 AM — 5:00 PM) and shall be available for teleconferencing on urgent ‘matters or as the need arises. Telephone calls and messages should be responded to promptly, 4. Employees with co-morbidities as supported by the doctor's certificate or any other medical proofs, pregnant women, and senior citizens are automatically on WFH, except when their services are urgently needed. (Annex D) 5. Inthe event of confirmed COVID-19 cases, the DILG RO/PO Management shall announce in proper venues including social media platforms, the schedule of lockdown of the office for thorough disinfection procedure. During lockdown of the office, all employees shall adopt the work from home arrangement. Resumption of the skeleton workforce reporting in the Office shall commence once disinfection procedures are thoroughly implemented, For varying quarantine classifications in the LGU, appropriate work arrangements shall be adopted as follows: 1. Under ECQ and MECQ, DILG Region | shall operate on skeleton workforce to provide essential services. The rest of the personnel workforce shall be under work-from-home arrangement. 2. Under GCQ, to limit exposure and ensure physical distancing, the number of personnel Physically reporting to work shalll not exceed 50% of total workforce of the office. 3. Under MGCQ and post-community quarantine scenario, may operate at a full Operational capacity as may be allowed by required health standards, including physical distancing protocols and adoption of appropriate work arrangements. Ill, LEAVE OF ABSENCE For the duration of the pandemic, treatment of absences ‘of government officials and employees during the period of community quarantine are as follows (Annex E) 1. EXCUSED ABSENCES: * Stranded abroad or locally while on official travel due to ‘suspension of all forms of transportation (land, sea, and air). ‘¢ Unable to report for work due to health-risks Provided they are not qualified for work- from-home arrangement. * Unable to report for work due to imposition of lockdown. * Unable to report for work due to suspension of public transportation, or no agency Service vehicie/shuttle service to the employees who are on skeleton * Jobitasks of officials and employees cannot be performed through work-from-home arrangement, and the agency has not assigned any other task’s. * Officials and employees who underwent the required period of quarantine and/or treatment for COVID-19 due to localized transmissions. * Those who had exposure with co-employees who contracted the COVID-19 as certified by the HRMO/Safety Officer/Provincial Director2. ABSENCES CHARGED AGAINST EARNED VACATIONISICK LEAVE CREDITS: * Failure to report for work after the approved personal leave of absence * Failure to report for work after undergoing the required quarantine leave and/or required COVID-19 treatment leave. Failure to report for work of those whose alternative work arrangement requires physical presence in the office and assigned as skeleton force. Failure to respond to calls or messages while on work-from-home arrangement IV. CONDUCT OF MEETINGS, SEMINARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ACTIVITIES AND DOCUMENT TRANSMITTAL 1, Conduct meetings, seminars, assessments and other similar activities through any virtual platforms available. If face-to-face meeting is required, the following protocols shall be observed: ‘+ Keep meetings short for not longer than 30 minutes. ‘© Limit the number of attendees to not more than 15. ‘* Maintain 1-meter physical distancing at all times. 2. Whenever possible, use paperless document transmittal through email or file sharing platforms, 3. Incoming Communications/Documents shall be disinfected first through the UV box before forwarding to concerned offices for action. V. HOUSEKEEPING AND DISINFECTION 1. For the Regional Office, a weekly disinfection of offices, workstations, common areas, etc., shall be done every Wednesday (after SPM) and Saturday (Morning) of the week with the supervision the General Services Section of the Finance and Administrative Division. 2. Provincial Offices are also required to schedule their office disinfections. 3. Workplace areas and all frequently handled objects, such as doorknobs and handles, shall be cleaned and disinfected at least every two (2) hours. Frequent hand washing using soap and water and disinfection using 70% alcohol are likewise stationed in required accessible locations. 4. All washrooms and toilets shall have sufficient clean water and soap. 5. Daily disinfection of service vehicles shall be done before and after use. Mandatory thermal scanning of drivers before leaving the office premises to transport employees is, likewise required 6. Windows of shuttle service vehicles shall remain open during transport to allow ventilation. 7. Used face masks and other infectious wastes such as used tissue paper, are required to be disposed properly in the yellow trash bin exclusively provided for the same purpose. 8. Throw away used tissue paper and face masks by properly wrapping them with a scrap paper before disposing them in the yellow bin provided. 9. A handwashing station should be available near the trash bin for proper sanitation after waste disposalVI. MANAGEMENT OF SUSPECTED COVID-19 CASE 1 ‘An employee who tested positive for COVID-19 using the Antigen Test must undergo a mandatory self-quarantine for 14 days and shall be required to undergo the RT-PCR ‘Swab Test within the quarantine period or as directed by Authority. Should the RT-PCR yield a negative result, the suspect COVID-19 employee shall still complete the 14-day quarantine period while the close contacts may continue to report for work on a skeletal schedule. In all instances, the Regional Safety Officer should be informed/updated through channels for proper monitoring and documentation, Vil. MANAGEMENT OF CONFIRMED COVID-19 1 If an employee is confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 disease, the concemed office where he/she is assigned shall coordinate with the Health Office of the LGU where the employee resides for possible confinement in the isolation or quarantine facilities of the same LGU. The designated safety officers shall monitor daily the condition of the employee confined for COVID-19 thru the COVID-19 Google Tracking System. Arecovered employee shall seek clearance from the attending physician and shall secure a Cerificate of Quarantine Completion and a Medical Certificate certifying that he/she has recovered from COVID and is fit to return to work. He/She is also required to present a negative RT-PCR test result showing the date of specimen collection made within 72 hours (3 days) prior to return to office. All other existing regional guidelines which are inconsistent with these Memorandum are deemed repealed or modified accordingly and shall take effect immediately. For compliance. we JULIE J.,DAQHOAG, Ph.R, DESO Ill Regional Directo!