MANILA – The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), through the Office of the Global Media and Public Affairs (OGMPA), will feature the government’s isolation strategy under the National Action Plan against Covid-19 by bringing viewers inside the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Quarantine Facility, the largest quarantine facility in Metro Manila for coronavirus disease 2019, in the fifth episode of the Laging Handa Dokyu series entitled “Nayong Quarantine.”
"The Bagong Nayong Pilipino Mega Quarantine Facility in Parañaque City is part of the isolation component of the National Action Plan (NAP) to ensure that our asymptomatic and mild Covid-19 patients are in a comfortable place while being quarantined,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.
“This is one of many additional isolation facilities to be built nationwide, in a collaborative effort of the national government and private sector, in preparation for the reopening of our economy, and for us to live with the virus in the new normal," he added.
National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Vince Dizon said the public should learn to live with the virus as the country plans to gradually and safely reopen the economy.
"What is important now is we should learn to live with Covid-19. That's what they call the new normal, and the minimum health standard is important. Our critical response to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 is building more isolation facilities," Dizon said, who is the President and CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, as well as the Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects.
The Bagong Nayong Pilipino Mega Quarantine Facility is constructed in partnership with the Razon Group through Prime Metro BMD Corporation and Bloomberry Cultural Foundation, Inc. It has an open-air design which allows the patients to roam outside their room to exercise, breathe fresh air, and to be exposed to sunlight, while air-conditioning system and Wi-Fi are provided inside the tents and the patient rooms.
Manned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Health Service Command, the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Quarantine Facility has a 600-bed capacity that accommodates asymptomatic Covid-19 patients as well as those with have mild symptoms.
According to Col. Fatima Claire Navarro, Deputy Commander of AFP Regional Joint Task Force National Capital Region, they coordinate with the One Hospital Command Center and provide assistance to quarantined patients, from admission to treatment.
"We are always put in the frontline and of course as a doctor, it’s an inherent calling to all of us. The main drive is really the happiness of being given the opportunity to really serve and maximize whatever potentials that the AFP has given us," Navarro said.
Part of the isolation strategy featured in the documentary is the Oplan Kalinga Program, where Covid-19 patients without adequate isolation areas in their homes are brought to a proper temporary treatment and monitoring facility to prevent any possible transmission of the virus to their families.
The Department of Public Works and Highways is working to build a total of 603 isolation facilities with a 21,609-bed capacity, as well as 75 off-site dormitories throughout the country for medical workers with a 1,806-bed capacity.
The succeeding episodes of the Laging Handa Dokyu will tour the public in the new normal tourism way of Baguio City, its local contact tracing and testing efforts, the Philippines’ development of testing laboratories, participation in clinical trials, the best practices of local government units, and the experiences of some government officials hit by Covid-19.
Catch “Nayong Quarantine” at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday on PTV-4 and IBC-13. It will also be livestreamed on the Presidential Communications Operations Office, NTF Covid-19, and The BCDA Group Facebook pages, as well as other government-affiliated social media pages.
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