By Joseph B.A. Marzan
In anticipation of more coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, Iloilo City’s COVID-19 Task Force is eyeing to tap more motels and schools to augment existing quarantine facilities, Task Force spokesperson Jeck Conlu said on Saturday.
Data from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as of 8 pm of August 14, 2020 indicated that the city has 632 quarantine beds for patients (including suspect and probable cases) with 251 still available.
Other facilities by the city are for temporary billeting of frontliners, including medical personnel, government employees, police officers, and army personnel.
But in an interview with Daily Guardian on Air on Saturday, Conlu said that the city only has 96 beds remaining as of 8:30 am of August 15.
“We have quarantine facilities at St. Therese, Jubilee Hall, Mabini Elementary School, La Paz Elementary School, Baluarte Elementary School, and we’re preparing Mandurriao Elementary School. So far, as of 8:30 [of August 15], our available bed capacity is only at 96, although we will be discharging some on Saturday afternoon and Sunday,” Conlu said.
Conlu added that they are negotiating with other motels and lodging houses to be turned into quarantine facilities.
“In addition, another allowed quarantine facility is at Moonlight Lodge in Arevalo, but it is also already full. There are ongoing talks with other lodging houses and hotels to receive more positive cases,” he added.
He also explained that the narrowing bed capacity was also a factor in the moratorium on the repatriation of Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROF) and Locally Stranded Individuals (LSI).
National Task Force on COVID-19 policy chief Carlito Galvez on August 8 approved a request to stop repatriations to Iloilo City, Bacolod City and Negros Occidental province.
“Nowadays, we will only be accommodating positive cases. Before, we also accommodated LSIs in our quarantine facilities who were awaiting test results. That is why Mayor Jerry Treñas requested for a two-week moratorium from the national government for two weeks because we were expecting that this would happen. If this wasn’t approved, the situation would’ve gotten worse,” he said.
Conlu allayed concerns that the city will run out of facilities and equipment as COVID-19 cases surge, saying that the city government has acquired more beds, prepared more school facilities, and bought additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should the situation worsen further.
“Our city has continuing preparations. We are preparing more schools to augment the bed capacity in quarantine facilities. There are more schools we can use. The city government has purchased more foams and folding beds. Our PPEs in the city, as well as medicines, vitamins, and food packs our still sufficient. Everything is being prepared in anticipation for this situation. We will also start hiring more nurses, doctors, and facility staff in our health offices,” he said.
He added that barangays are equipped to handle localized lockdowns and other COVID-19-related situations.
The surge in locally transmitted cases in the city prompted the mayor to order localized lockdowns.
“Everything that we are doing above are being cascaded to the barangays. We have a lockdown team which are going to our districts, orienting our barangay officials on what will be done before, during, and after the lockdowns. We’ve established the guidelines and appointed focal persons in case our barangay officials have concerns,” he said.
Iloilo City currently has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region as of August 15, according to data by the Department of Health (DOH).
There are 525 local cases, with 423 active cases, 91 recoveries, and 11 deaths.
Repatriated cases, or those of LSIs, ROFs, and Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APOR) are at 111, with 27 active cases, 84 recoveries, and zero deaths.
