3 quarantine facilities for suspected COVID-19 cases ready by April 12, Nograles says

The three quarantine facilities for suspected COVID-19 cases that the government will set up with help from the private sector will be ready for operation by April 10 to 12, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Thursday.

Nograles, spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID),  said these facilities include the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) with 700 beds; World Trade Center, with 600 beds; and the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, 650 beds.

“We would like to report that the PICC will be ready by April 10; the facilities are being prepared by the DPWH and EEI Corporation. The Rizal Memorial Sports Complex is being readied by PRIME-BMD or Razon Group will be ready by April 10 as well,” Nograles said in a press conference.

“The World Trade Center, on the other hand, will be ready by April 12. It is being set up by ICCP and Ayala or Makati Dev’t Corp. Iyong April 10 and 12, full completion,” Nograles added.

Nograles then thanked the private sector for their support in the government’s initiatives against COVID-19, or coronavirus disease 2019, and assured the public that additional quarantine facilities would be established if need be.

“Posible ring gaming quarantine and isolation facility ang Quezon Institute, Duty-Free Philippines Parañaque, Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City, Quezon Memorial Circle at Veterans Memorial Medical Center complex,” he said.

The quarantine facilities have been set up after the government designated certain hospitals -- Philippine Genera lHospital and the Lung Center of the Philippines, among others -- as COVID-19 referral centers.

The Philippines has recorded 2,311 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday. Of this number, 96 have died while 50 others recovered.

The Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, which banned mass transportation and resulted in work stoppage in many sectors to prevent mass gathering, is expected to end on April 13. --KBK, GMA News