Section 3Sec./Art. 3

Definition of Terms. -For purposes of this Act:

(a)Health facilitiesshall refer to any public or private institution with health care as their core service, function or business. Health care pertains to the maintenance or improvement of the health of individuals, or populations through the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and chronic management of disease, illness, injury and other physical and mental ailments or impairments.

For purposes of this Act, health facilities and other health related establishments shall refer to those duly licensed or designated by the Department of Health (DOH), including the DOH-Central Office, Centers for Health Development (CHD), Provincial/City/Municipal Health Offices, and Local Government Health Offices, for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and future public health emergency response in accordance with the Department's national action plan and strategies.

(b)Health care and non-health care workersshall refer to all public and private medical, allied medical, administrative, technical, support and other necessary personnel employed by, and assigned in hospitals, health facilities, laboratories, medical or temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, or vaccination sites. For COVID-19 pandemic, it also includes those who are involved in COVID-19 response to mitigate transmission and prevent further loss of lives in line with the National Action Plan Against COVID-19 strategy of prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, rehabilitation, and vaccination (PDITR+ Strategy).

Outsourced personnel hired under institutional or individual contract of service or job order basis who are similarly exposed to COVID-19, or other threats in times of public health emergencies, are included as non-health care workers under this Act.

Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) who are part of the DOH National BHW registry system assigned in health facilities including swabbing and vaccination sites and those administering medical assistance, as well as those assigned in barangay health emergency response teams or their successor entities, are included as health care workers for purposes of this Act.

(c)Public health emergencyshall refer to an occurrence or imminent threat of an illness or health condition of national scale, that:

(1) Is caused by any of the following:

(i) Bioterrorism;

(ii) Appearance of a novel or previously controlled or eradicated infectious agent or biological toxin;

(iii) A natural disaster;

(iv) A chemical attack or accident; or

(v) A nuclear attack or accident; or

(vi) An attack or accidental release of radioactive materials; and

(2) Poses a high probability of any of the following:

(i) A large number of deaths in the affected population;

(ii) A large number of serious injuries or long-term disabilities in the affected population;

(iii) Widespread exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of people in the affected population;

(iv) International exposure to an infectious or toxic agent that poses a significant risk to the health of citizens of other countries; or

(v) Trade and travel restrictions;

(d)Risk exposure categorizationshall refer to the following levels of exposure:

(1) Low risk exposure health workers performing administrative duties in non-public areas of health facilities, away from other staff members or away from patients, otherwise known as clean areas;

(2) Medium risk exposure health workers within the health facility that are providing direct physical care to the general public who are not known or suspected COVID-19 patients and working at busy staff work areas within a health facility; and

(3) High risk exposure health workers entering a COVID-19 patient's room to directly provide care for patients involving aerosol-generating procedures such as intubation, cough induction procedures, bronchoscopies, dental procedures and exams, or invasive specimen collection, as well as those collecting or handling specimens from known or suspected COVID-19 patients.

Provided,That for purposes of future public health emergencies, the DOH may formulate a new risk exposure categorization.