DAVAO CITY – Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año wants the government to build a mega coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine facility in Davao City as the local government grapples with a spike in new cases.

Año, in a meeting with the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team at Camp Quintin Merecido of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 on Wednesday, said that a big facility will be needed to contain the spread of infection.

“Last Saturday, we inaugurated the biggest mega quarantine facility in Calamba, Laguna—500-bed isolation capacity to cater to the region and nearby regions,” he said.

He said a surge in the city was expected, it being Mindanao’s urban center where people normally converge for work or business, necessitating a mega facility for new cases.

“Probably here, with the help of Sec. (Mark) Villar, we would like to have a sort of mega-quarantine facility because Region 11, (particularly) Davao City is the hub, even people from Caraga, from Sarangani, and Cotabato (come) for treatment, and, not only that, this is a center of commercial activities so there are lots of movements and these are potential risk also to the people of Davao,” he said.

As of November 18, Davao City reported a total of 5,412 cases, Davao de Oro with 398, Davao del Norte with 877, Davao del Sur with 580, Davao Occidental with 111, and Davao Oriental with 401.

The entire region has 2,325 in total active cases, 5,168 recoveries, and 286 deaths.

Out of the 5,412 cases in Davao City, 1,828 are active, 3,347 are recoveries, and 237 are deaths.

He believed that the surging cases in the city are reversible.

“We will work hand in hand, we will work together. Right now, what Sec. Charlie (Carlito Galvez) and I are seeing is that the situation here is easy to reverse. We just have to work together with LGUs, some other agencies IATF, RTF, and RIATF,” he added.

He told the law enforcers and barangay officials to focus on case clustering in the city’s coastal barangays, which noted the most number of new cases in the last 14 days.

“We need our law enforcers, our barangay officials there to focus on those areas, to make sure that we stem the transmission and take out every single positive from that area and bring him to isolation facilities,” he said.

Dr. Alethea De Guzman of the Department of Health-Epidemiology Bureau said most of the new cases reported in the last 14 days in the city came mostly from densely populated communities, particularly the coastal barangays.

In her presentation, Barangays Buhangin, 19-B, Talomo Poblacion, Agdao, and Bucana were identified as hot spot areas.