The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has built five more quarantine facilitiesin Bacolod City, Zamboanga City, and Surigao del Norte.
In Bacolod City, container vans were converted into two 32-room isolation facilities in Barangay Alijis while an existing evacuation center in Barangay Vista Alegre was turned into a 45-cubicle makeshift quarantine facility.
DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar said the newly-completed facilities in Barangay Alijis supplements the existing two-unit facilities constructed in October 2020.
The facilities house air-conditioned isolation rooms with individual comfort rooms, nurse station, utility/electrical room, male and female nurse quarters with individual comfort rooms, sanitation area, water tanks, standby generator, and distribution power transformer.
A 20-bed isolation facility was also recently completed in Barangay Pasonanca in Zamboanga City.
The facility, Villar said, was constructed “to augment the existing quarantine facilities and mitigate the rapid spread of the COVID-19 infection in the city.”
The facility has two constructed tents, with each tent capable of accommodating 10 patients separated by a cubicle.
The tents are equipped with air conditioner units, beds, adequate lighting and ventilation, uninterrupted electricity supply, potable water source and sewer line.
Villar said three more tents with 30 beds will be constructed by the department.
In Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, two more quarantine facilities with 50-bed capacity were recently turned over to the local government.
Constructed in Barangays Cagniog and Silop, each facility is composed of a four-unit building which includes a quarter for medical personnel, a kitchen, a building for male patients, and another for female patients.
The additional quarantine facilities will help alleviate hospital overcrowding and provide comfortable isolation for both patients and healthcare providers, the secretary said.
Villar on March 19 said that the DPWH is looking to build 118 more facilities that would bring the total quarantine facilities around the country to 720.
“Even if the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out has commenced, quarantine facilities are still necessary until we have attained the target for vaccination and reduced the number of infected people to a safe level,”Villar said.