Cops sent to secure COVID-19 centers

MANILA, Philippines — Police officers in Metro Manila have been deployed to prevent patients quarantined in hotels turned into isolation centers from leaving, an official said yesterday.

These police officers, armed with night sticks or rattan sticks and clad in personal protective equipment, “secured these facilities” starting last Wednesday to strictly implement instructions from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Health that “no patient would go out without proper directive, and that no one would visit them while on quarantine,” said National Capital Region Police Office chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas.

Patients would have to secure a clearance from attending physicians before they can continue their quarantine at home, he added.

Meanwhile, the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital will only accept patients with a severe case of COVID-19 since most of its beds are occupied, the Taguig City government said yesterday.

The Mandaluyong City government is calling for more healthcare professionals to join its workforce as 95 percent of beds for COVID-19 patients in the city’s public hospital are occupied.

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto ordered the closure of health centers in Barangays Maybunga, Napico, Manggahan and Caniogan since medical personnel in these facilities have to go on quarantine while waiting for their swab test results. – Emmanuel Tupas