One of the evacuation centers in the provinces (File photo)
MANILA – The government is looking to establishing more community quarantine facilities for patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said apart from decongesting the hospitals, the government aims to keep the severe and critical patients from mixing with the mild and asymptomatic through the creation of additional facilities.
"Tayo ay nakikipag-usap na sa pamunuan ng Quezon Institute at Red Cross para tayo ay makapagsimula ng isang malaking community quarantine facility kung saan pwede natin ilagak ang ating mga mino-monitor or our patients under investigation o kaya iyong mga pasyente nating positibo pero ating pinauuwi dahil mild lang ang (We're speaking with the administration of Quezon Institute and Red Cross so we can start with a big community quarantine facility where we can place the patients we monitor or our patients under investigation or positive patients sent home because they only have mild) symptoms," Vergeire said.
She said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) offered the use of 125 evacuation centers across the country as facilities.
"The local government units were encouraged to build community quarantine facilities gaya ng ginagawa po ng City of Manila, Quezon City at iba pang karatig pook (such as in the City of Manila, Quezon City, and other nearby areas)," she added.
As for schools to be used as quarantine facilities, Vergeire said the DOH would still have to check if they can be "properly and appropriately used by patients according to the standards of community quarantine facility".
Vergeire said the DOH is still finalizing the accreditation of more Covid-19 testing centers in local government units and it is willing to provide any assistance so they can comply with the requirements.
"Ang ating mga ginagawang proseso para ma-test ang Covid-19 sa ating laboratoryo is highly technical, it has bio-safety issues, bio-safety risks, kailangan po natin siguraduhin maka-comply ang ating mga laboratoryo, kasama po ang city of Marikina sa ating mga pamantayan, at matapos noon pwede na sila mag-operate (The process of testing Covid-19 in our laboratory is highly technical, it has bio-safety issues, bio-safety risks, we need to make sure the laboratories can comply including Marikina City to our standards and then they can operate)," she said.
To date, there are four sub-national laboratories that can perform testing for Covid-19 in addition to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
These are the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Southern Philippines Medical Center and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. (PNA)
