Ten thousand more quarantine facilities are expected to be constructed around the Philippines by the end of the year, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar said Thursday.

The department aims to bring to 20,000 the quarantine facilities completed for coronavirus disease cases in the country this year.

“To date, almost 10,000 quarantine facilities have been constructed across the country. Hindi pa kami tapos, tuloy-tuloy ang construction ng facilities (We’re not done yet, we continue to build facilities). We hope to hit more than 20,000 quarantine facilities across the country,” Villar said during a televised press briefing.

The isolation czar said that among the 20,000 quarantine facilities targeted this year are critical care facilities in hospitals to augment existing capacities of hospitals in handling critical cases of coronavirus disease.

Meanwhile, two isolation facilities were recently completed in Dagami, Leyte and Nueva Valencia, Guimaras Province.

“We are happy to announce that two new facilities were turned over in Visayas—one is the 32-bed capacity isolation facility located in Barangay Sampao East Poblacion, Dagami, and another one is in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras with 45-bed capacity,” Villar said.

“Both of these isolation facilities are fully-equipped and follow the standard design prepared by DPWH Task Force to Facilitate Augmentation of Local and National Health Facilities to ensure safety and comfort of our beneficiaries. These are designed to prevent further transmission of the virus,” he added.

The quarantine facility in Dagami, Leyte is the 18th modular hospital completed in Eastern Visayas.

It is made from a cluster of container vans converted to an isolation facility.

DPWH Region 8 Director Nerie Bueno said two more isolation facilities in Catbalogan, Samar are under way.

Ongoing projects are targeted to be finished by the end of October.

In Region 6, the recently turned-over facility is located inside the Regional Evacuation Center Building in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras.

It has 45 units individual isolation cubicles furnished with a bed, a table and a chair, a trash bin, and an individual lighting system.

It is intended for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) coming back to the province, suspected COVID-19 patients, and confirmed cases.

According to Region 6 Director Lea Delfinado, seven more facilities and off-site dormitories under Cluster 1 costing P84.15 million, six facilities under Cluster 3 amounting to P822.17 million, and five facilities under Cluster 4 in the amount of P66.82 million are under way.

(photos from DPWH)