MANILA, Philippines — The government will open 22 mega quarantine facilities for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the National Capital Region (NCR), an official said yesterday.
Vince Dizon, National Task Force against COVID-19 response deputy chief implementer, said the facilities would augment the current 2,700 hotel beds that the government is paying for and reserving for asymptomatic and mild COVID patients.
“In the past weeks, our asymptomatic positives have increased in number. That is why there is an increase in the occupancy in our mega quarantine facilities and in the local government facilities,” he explained.
The facilities, he added, would be ready in two to three weeks. At present, over 1,000 are isolated under the government’s “Oplan Kalinga” in the NCR.
“To help those isolated, we immediately get hotels as isolation facilities for the positives. And to date, there are over 1,000 isolated under Oplan Kalinga here in NCR in different hotels in Metro Manila and the LGUs like Quezon City. Other LGUs like Valenzuela, Navotas, Malabon and Caloocan are helping us to isolate immediately those positives,” Dizon revealed.
He pointed out that of the 2,700 reserved rooms, 1,000 are in use.
To augment the number, Dizon said the Department of Public Works and Highways is constructing 22 more isolation facilities that should be ready in three weeks. This is aside from the quarantine facilities in Fort Magsaysay that are expected to open in a week’s time.
“The other day, the Razon group of Mr. Ricky Razon have offered to construct a mega quarantine facility in the entertainment city in Parañaque, in the 10-hectare land of Nayong Pilipino. The mega quarantine to be constructed there will be composed of 500 beds and will be finished in two weeks. All of these are being done,” he added.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergerie earlier said that quarantine facilities in Metro Manila, as well as in Regions 1, 7, 10 and 12, are 70 percent occupied.
Meanwhile, Marikina Rep. Bayani Fernando has proposed the use of public school classrooms as “quarantine facilities” for asymptomatic individuals during the time that the Department of Education is not using these for classes.
“I am proposing that asymptomatic individuals be quarantined in classrooms and the ratio would be 1:1 or one classroom, one COVID-19 positive person. In this way, we can prevent further transmission,” said Fernando, who is also a deputy minority leader of the House of Representatives.
He emphasized that “only confirmed asymptomatic patients and mild cases will be quarantined in classrooms while the critical cases will be treated in hospitals.”
The former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chief cited a recent study by South Korean epidemiologists which found that people were more likely to contract the coronavirus from members of their own households than from contacts outside home.
He explained that people infected with COVID-19 fear going to quarantine facilities because they feel that it is more risky to stay in cramped cubicles in the quarantine facilities built by the government.
Ang Probinsiyano party-list Rep. Ronnie Ong said President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address should serve as notice for DepEd and the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to postpone the opening of classes on Aug. 24.
“To my mind, this particular statement of the President is a marching order for Secretary Leonor Briones to postpone the opening of classes and make sure that all the requirements needed to implement the blended learning program must be set in place,” Ong said.
“Like the President said, education that is delayed can be recovered, so I really hope that the DepEd should at least move the opening of classes to September or until it is really ready to implement a blended type of conducting classes,” Ong added.
In his SONA on Monday, Duterte admonished the country’s telecommunications firms for poor signal and slow internet connection.
“We cannot resume classes relying on online learning without ensuring they have access to internet. Moreover, we cannot rely alone on private companies to invest in internet towers, as they themselves focus first on returns of their investment,” Ong said. “Our government should start investing in infrastructure as well for better, faster and accessible internet connection and telco sites to equip our learners and teachers for online distance learning.” – Delon Porcalla