The classrooms of a public elementary school in San Juan City were converted into temporary living quarters for the medical staff of a city-run hospital in order to provide them with accommodation near their workplace.
Mayor Francis Zamora led the turnover of the 100-bed temporary living quarters at the San Juan Elementary School to the medical frontliners of San Juan Medical Center (SJMC) on Thursday (Aug. 13).
“We recognize the hard work of our medical frontliners at the San Juan Medical Center. Exhausted after long hours of work, we want to provide them with a nearby accommodation,” Zamora said in a statement.
The school is just a minute's walk from the hospital. The classrooms were turned into sleeping areas equipped with beds, toilets, and showers, while a mess hall and kitchen inside the campus will provide frontliners with free meals three times a day. A free WiFi connection has also been installed.
“We treat them as heroes during this fight against COVID-19. We feel their concern for their families,” he said.
“They should not be burdened by the thought of transmitting the virus to their loved ones, should they themselves, although unlikely, contract the virus at work,” he added.
According to Zamora, the positivity rate for infection among SJMC staff remains among the lowest in Metro Manila at a combined 10 percent since March this year.
The mayor said that SJMC Director Ret. Gen. Dr. Joseph Acosta, a former surgeon general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, ensured that precautionary measures and health protocols were strictly followed.
Also on Thursday, Zamora led the distribution of a one-time P5,000 cash incentive to the city’s medical frontliners in recognition of their hard work and dedication amid the threat of the coronavirus.
“We want to make sure our frontliners know that the City Government of San Juan has their back. They are living heroes who have sacrificed so much to help those who are sick and to make others who do not have COVID-19 remain free from the disease,” he said.