Manila Bulletin
Philippines
PH now has 3,052 quarantine centers that can accommodate 200,000 COVID-19 patients
Philippines
PH now has 3,052 quarantine centers that can accommodate 200,000 COVID-19 patients
PH now has 3,052 quarantine centers that can accommodate 200,000 COVID-19 patients
Published Apr 22, 2020 12:00 am
By Martin Sadongdong
The Philippines has successfully established 3,052 quarantine facilities nationwide for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, the National Task Force (NTF) said on Tuesday.
We Heal As One Center in Pasig
(NATF against COVID-19 / MANILA BULLETIN) NTF COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the facilities can accommodate a total of 211,474 patients, thus, providing assistance to hospitals and other health facilities which have reached maximum capacity. Galvez said this is a key development as the government aims to strengthen the role of the local government units (LGUs) in combating the coronavirus. Some LGUs have taken the initiative of conducting targeted testing last week as quarantine facilities were put up in their areas of jurisdiction. Individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 were being sent to isolation centers for quarantine procedures. "Ang mga lokal na pamahalaan ay kabilang sa ating mga frontliners at dapat silang manguna sa laban na ito. Sila po ay may higit na kaalaman sa kani-kanilang nasasakupan upang mapaigting ang laban kontra COVID-19 (The local governments are also frontliners and they must lead this fight. They are the ones who know their people so we can intensify the fight against COVID-19)," Galvez said. Among the latest quarantine facilities to be put-up was the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig City which was successfully converted into a mega isolation center in just five days. On Tuesday, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, NTF COVID-19 spokesperson Restituto Padilla Jr., and Bases and Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) President Vince Dizon inspected the repurposed facility which can house at least 132 patients. "This (conversion of Philsports Arena to a quarantine facility) is part of the strategy of the government to locate, isolate, and cure COVID-19 patients," Dizon said. Mass testing Galvez said the capacity of the government to conduct COVID-19 tests continues to improve as it aims to conduct 12,000 or more tests per day. To achieve this, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) officially opened its state-of-the-art molecular testing laboratory in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday. Galvez said the PRC's molecular testing laboratory plans to utilize 12 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines which can test 12,000 samples every day. The PRC is also pushing for the establishment of various testing laboratories in different parts of the country to assist the government in achieving the goal of testing two million individuals, he added. "This plan will provide the government the critical data and analysis to help address the crisis brought about by COVID-19," he said. Latest figures revealed that the Department of Health (DOH) has tested a total of 52,837 individuals. Of these, the DOH recorded 6,599 confirmed cases with 437 deaths and 654 fatalities as of Tuesday. The government is expecting to receive this week the first batch of the 900,000 real time (RT) PCR test kit and two million rapid test kits, the procurement of which was approved by President Duterte last April 14.
We Heal As One Center in Pasig(NATF against COVID-19 / MANILA BULLETIN) NTF COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the facilities can accommodate a total of 211,474 patients, thus, providing assistance to hospitals and other health facilities which have reached maximum capacity. Galvez said this is a key development as the government aims to strengthen the role of the local government units (LGUs) in combating the coronavirus. Some LGUs have taken the initiative of conducting targeted testing last week as quarantine facilities were put up in their areas of jurisdiction. Individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 were being sent to isolation centers for quarantine procedures. "Ang mga lokal na pamahalaan ay kabilang sa ating mga frontliners at dapat silang manguna sa laban na ito. Sila po ay may higit na kaalaman sa kani-kanilang nasasakupan upang mapaigting ang laban kontra COVID-19 (The local governments are also frontliners and they must lead this fight. They are the ones who know their people so we can intensify the fight against COVID-19)," Galvez said. Among the latest quarantine facilities to be put-up was the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig City which was successfully converted into a mega isolation center in just five days. On Tuesday, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, NTF COVID-19 spokesperson Restituto Padilla Jr., and Bases and Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) President Vince Dizon inspected the repurposed facility which can house at least 132 patients. "This (conversion of Philsports Arena to a quarantine facility) is part of the strategy of the government to locate, isolate, and cure COVID-19 patients," Dizon said. Mass testing Galvez said the capacity of the government to conduct COVID-19 tests continues to improve as it aims to conduct 12,000 or more tests per day. To achieve this, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) officially opened its state-of-the-art molecular testing laboratory in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday. Galvez said the PRC's molecular testing laboratory plans to utilize 12 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines which can test 12,000 samples every day. The PRC is also pushing for the establishment of various testing laboratories in different parts of the country to assist the government in achieving the goal of testing two million individuals, he added. "This plan will provide the government the critical data and analysis to help address the crisis brought about by COVID-19," he said. Latest figures revealed that the Department of Health (DOH) has tested a total of 52,837 individuals. Of these, the DOH recorded 6,599 confirmed cases with 437 deaths and 654 fatalities as of Tuesday. The government is expecting to receive this week the first batch of the 900,000 real time (RT) PCR test kit and two million rapid test kits, the procurement of which was approved by President Duterte last April 14.