BI puts up isolation ward for COVID-positive foreign detainees

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has opened an isolation facility for COVID-19-positive foreign detainees with mild to moderate symptoms. 

Located at the New Bilibid Prison compound in Muntinlupa City, the BI Ligtas COVID Centre can accommodate 30 to 60 persons and will be staffed by medical personnel and guarded by officers of the BI's Warden Facility (BIWF) 24/7, the bureau said. 

The BI said they also plan to install CCTV cameras in the quarantine ward for the remote monitoring of patients. 

The project was made in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Corrections, the BI said. 

BIWF chief Remiecar Caguiron said they used to isolate their COVID-positive wards in the custodial quarters of their detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, which she said has "very limited space." 

There are currently 315 foreigners detained at the BIWF for various immigration offenses, well over the facility's capacity of 140. 

The BI said the number of detainees increased following the arrests of foreign workers found to be undocumented or unauthorized for employment in the country last year. 

On the other hand, new detainees who tested positive were often referred to authorized facilities or the provincial hospital. Caguiron said this was a "huge security risk."

“That’s why this isolation ward lessens the risk, and is a big help in ensuring the health and safety of everyone in the BIWF,” Caguiron said in a BI statement. 

The BI said more than a hundred foreign detainees have been deported and at-risk wards have been released on bail since April as part of the bureau's efforts to decongest the facility. 

“Overcrowding in the facility is a health risk, and we want to ensure that we mitigate this risk and stop the spread of this disease though the help of this isolation facility,” Caguiron said. 

The BI said five foreigners have so far tested positive for COVID-19 and that most of them are already recovering. —Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/KG, GMA News