COVID-19 PANDEMIC

22 mega quarantine facilities to open in NCR in two to three weeks, says Dizon

The government is expected to open 22 mega quarantine facilities for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the National Capital Region (NCR) in two to three weeks' time, according to testing czar Vince Dizon on Thursday.

Dizon made the announcement a day after Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire warned that quarantine facilities in Metro Manila, as well as in Regions 1, 7, 10, and 12, are 70% occupied.

Dizon said that the 22 isolation facilities are on top of the 2,700 beds in hotels that the government paid for and reserved for asymptomatic/mild COVID-19 patients in Metro Manila.

“In the past weeks, talagang dumami ang asymptomatic positives. Kaya iyong mga mega quarantine facilities at LGU facilities, tumaas ang occupancy. Ang immediately na ginawa natin, kumuha tayo ng isolation hotels, at iyong 2,700 beds ang naka-reserve na para sa NCR [patients]. Of that number, 1,000 na ang occupied,” Dizon said at a press conference.

“Apart from that, iyong DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), may 22 isolation facilities na ginagawa sa NCR. Matatapos ito within two to three weeks,” Dizon added.

The quarantine facility at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Dizon said, is also expected to be made available within seven days.

"May kulang na lang na kaunting gamit [pero] magbubukas na 'yan in a week," he said.

As for the private sector, Dizon said a group led by businessman Ricky Razon will be building a 500-bed isolation facility in the Entertainment City-Nayong Pilipino land in Parañaque City.

“Itong offer ng Razon group, it will be in the 10-hectare property, at matatapos in two weeks,” he said.

Based on Department of Health records, over 1.3 million Filipinos have been tested for COVID-19 using Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. Of this number, over 120,000 tested positive.

The 120,000 individuals who tested positive as reported by laboratories, however, are subject to validation by the DOH.

Counting the validation, the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country is 85,486 as of July 30. —KBK, GMA News