The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) said that at least 300 Filipino travelers are testing positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) each day upon arrival in the country.
BOQ Deputy Director Roberto Salvador Jr. said there were about 3,000 international arrivals to the Philippines per day.
“Sa ngayon po ang average po natin per day na arrivals natin, iyong capacity natin is 3,000. Ang nagpa-positive po every day is close to 300 (Right now, our average arrivals per day is 3,000. The number of those who test positive every day is close to 300),” he said during a public briefing on Saturday, Jan. 22.
“So, approximately po 10 percent to 14 percent po ang nagpa-positive sa mga arrivals nating mga Pilipino (So, approximately 10 percent to 14 percent of arriving Filipinos test positive),” he added.
Salvador said that they opened up more isolation facilities to accommodate these patients.
“Nag-start na po na nagbukas tayo nang mas maraming isolation facility para po lahat ng mga nag-positive sa quarantine facility maita-transfer ng Bureau of Quarantine sa mandatory isolation government facilities po (We have already started opening more isolation facilities so that all those who test positive in the quarantine facility can be transferred by the Bureau of Quarantine to the mandatory isolation government facilities),” he said.
“So nagbukas na po tayo, within NCR po iyong Summit Hotel, Manila Prince at iyong Athletes Village po sa Tarlac...Even in Batangas po – Canyon Cove, Canyon Woods – so marami na po tayong binuksan po na isolation facility (So we have opened facilities within NCR like Summit Hotel, Manila Prince and the Athletes Village in Tarlac... Even in Batangas - Canyon Cove, Canyon Woods - we have opened many isolation facilities),” he added.
Meanwhile, Salvador said that they are also strictly implementing the quarantine protocols for those people arriving in the country.
“Sinabi nga po ng Presidente na lahat po ng hotel ngayon ay bibigyan po ng police presence para po mas mabantayan. Doon po kasi nakita na pupuwedeng magkaroon ng breach of quarantine violations iyong mga kababayan nating bumabalik sa Pilipinas (The President instructed that there will be police presence in all hotels so that they can be better guarded. Because, we observed that a breach in quarantine rules can happen there),” he said.