The government intends to "commandeer" as many hotel and dormitory beds that it can to address the shortage in quarantine and isolation centers, Malacañang announced on Wednesday as cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to surge.
According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, these business establishments could augment the public schools and other government-built centers that will temporarily house mild or asymptomatic coronavirus patients and their close contacts.
(JOEY DALUMPINES / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
"We concede that we probably will not have enough for the time being, although we built quite a number of We Heal As One centers as well as Ligtas centers maintained by the local government units," he said over CNN Philippines.
If the active coronavirus cases reach 4,000 a day, Roque said the government will have to trace and isolate 10 of their close contacts, which will be equivalent to 40,000.
"In addition to public schools, we’re actually booking every hotel room that we can because tourism is not allowed anyway due to GCQ (general community quarantine) so we’re going to commandeer almost all of the hospital beds available going beyond – not hospital beds but hotel beds," he said.
"We’re also going beyond hotel beds, we’re going to commandeer as well dormitories that are available, everything and anything we can use for isolation purposes without having to build new ones," he added.
Roque also said the government plans to convert some public schools and other buildings into quarantine and isolation facilities but admitted that such expansion "does not happen overnight."
He said they have to wait for the passage of the Bayanihan 2 law since the refurbishment of public schools will still incur expenses. "But the good thing with the public schools, we don’t have to build structures. We just have to buy beds, linens, and provide for kitchens for these public schools when we use them as isolation centers," he added.
Roque said a drug rehabilitation center located at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija will be converted into a quarantine facility for coronavirus patients
"So the effort now is really to improve our capacity for tracing and because we have improved tracing now, we need more isolation facilities and that’s what the reboot is all about," Roque said.
The government, in partnership with the private sector, will build tent-like structures as temporary healthcare facilities, according to Roque. "We appreciate of course the effort of the private sector in rushing these facilities as well," he said.
The expansion of the quarantine and isolation facilities is part of the government's strategy to limit the spread of the coronavirus and prevent the overwhelming of the country's healthcare system. These centers seek to separate coronavirus cases and potential carriers from the public until they complete the 14-day quarantine and get medical clearance to return home.
The government had earlier discouraged home quarantine for coronavirus patients if they don't have their own room and bathroom.
"We realize that there is no other alternative but to subject to institutional isolation even the close contacts of those who have tested positive," Roque said. "And one thing going for us is of course we now have the capacity to conduct tests on more than 32,000 individuals so all those who had close contacts with the positive can also be subject to testing now," he added.
Around 164,474 people have been infected with the coronavirus disease in the country as of August 18. Of this number, 112,759 have recovered while 2,681 died.