Philippines eyes additional isolation, COVID-19 beds as cases rise

The government is planning to open more isolation and COVID-19 beds within the month for better management of the pandemic as the Philippines races close to the top spot of having the most number of infections in Southeast Asia, testing czar Vince Dizon said Thursday.

During the launch of the COVID-19 Command Center in Makati City, Dizon said aggressive testing, tracing, and isolation would help arrest the spread of the virus.

"Ang DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), sa pamumuno ng ating isolation czar, si Secretary Mark Villar ay magbubukas ng dagdag na 3,000 additional beds dito sa ating we Heal as One Centers dito sa Metro Manila, Region III, at Region IV-A," he said.

These beds, to be available this month, will bring the total isolation beds in the said regions to 6,000.

The hotel rooms in Metro Manila and other nearby areas, dedicated for COVID-19 isolation, would also be doubled from the current 1,700.

Further, on the treatment side, Dizon said almost 500 additional beds for COVID-19 cases will be made available in the East Avenue Medical Center and Quirino Memorial Medical Center.

"'Yun po ang ating mga ginagawa ngayon na very concrete para sa loob ng dalawang linggo at sa buwan ng Agosto ay madagdagan natin ang capacity na i-manage ang ating cases," he said.

Secretary Carlito Galvez, chief implementer of the national action plan against COVID-19, admitted that the two-week implementation of modified enhanced community quarantine will not be able to arrest the rising number of new cases.

"As we expected, yung 15 days na yan is not enough to address, arrest, or contain the new cases but we will continue to work hard na lahat ng strategies natin ay mapababa natin talaga ang new cases," he said.

As of August 5, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines jumped to 115,980, the second highest in Southeast Asia next to Indonesia which has 116,865.

Dizon said the upward trend could be expected because of the aggressive testing efforts in the country. —KBK, GMA News