The government opened on Monday (April 26) another isolation facility at Port Area, Manila for symptomatic Covid-19 patients and those experiencing mild symptoms.
The One Covid Referral Center will recommend patients prior to their admission to the facility.
“This is going to be very convenient and comfortable for them during the recovery period… There is no exclusivity for any groups of individuals affected with Covid,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
The entire Super Terminal isolation facility has four quadrants with 211 beds. The other quadrants have been dedicated to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) since August 2020.
Medical personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard will monitor the patients.
The project will support the move of the government to decongest hospitals, especially by lowering the occupancy rate and expanding the capacity of those in the National Capital Region (NCR).
As of April 26 noon, the utilization rate of temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) in NCR is at 72%, while intensive care units (ICU) of hospitals is at 86%. The health department is planning to lower the figures to 60% before easing restrictions.
“Kung low risk sila tapos maganda ang utilization rate mo, then you can loosen up to MECQ [modified enhanced community quarantine] to GCQ [general community quarantine], then eventually to MGCQ [modified GCQ],” Duque said. – Report from Louisa Erispe/AG-jlo
Watch this report from Louisa Erispe for more details:
