The Manila City government opened the redeveloped quarantine facility for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients at San Andres Sports Complex Wednesday morning.
A total of 54 cubicles were added to the isolation facility, that originally had a capacity of 60 beds. The air-conditioned facility has WiFi, electric fans, and bathrooms for the patients.
The refurbishment of the quarantine facility was done in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso, who led a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony at the facility's launch, said redeveloping the quarantine facility is one of the city government's preemptive measures in case of a surge in COVID-19 infections during the holidays.
“This is our preparation in our small little way to continue strengthening our load capacity na kung sakali, ’wag naman sana loobin ng Diyos, mangyari sa atin ‘yung nangyari sa most portion of Europe na nagkaroon ng second wave. Inaagapan namin ‘yung posibleng hindi magandang mangyari sa December o Enero (if ever, I hope it is not God's will, that the second wave happening in a portion of Europe will happen to us. We are trying to prevent the negative things that could possibly happen in December or January),” he told reporters.
Manila has 12 other isolation facilities including T. Paez Quarantine Facility, P. Gomez Quarantine Facility, C. Arellano Quarantine Facility, Dapitan Quarantine Facility, Bacood Quarantine Facility, Tondo Sports Complex Quarantine Facility, Patricia Sports Complex Quarantine Facility, Araullo Quarantine Facility, Tondo Quarantine Facility, G. Del Pilar Quarantine Facility, Gen. Gregorio del Pilar Quarantine Facility, and Manuel L. Quezon University Quarantine Facility.
The city has a total capacity of 525 beds for its COVID-19 patients in its quarantine facilities.
Domagoso said they only have a 68-percent occupancy rate in their quarantine facilities and a 33-percent occupancy rate in their six district hospitals.
The Manila mayor vowed to continue building more facilities and procuring more equipment to improve the city's COVID-19 response.
As of Wednesday noon, Manila has a total of 19,089 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Of this number, 604 are active cases, 17,928 have recovered, and 557 have died.