Duque inspects drug rehab facility eyed as quarantine site in Nueva Ecija

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday visits the Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center inside Fort Magsaysay in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. The rear section of the drug rehabilitation facility is being eyed as a quarantine site for Filipinos who will be repatriated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019- nCoV) outbreak. Photo by Armand Galang

PALAYAN CITY — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Wednesday inspected the Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC) at Fort Magsaysay here.

The 10,000-bed DATRC, which is being operated by the Department of Health, is being considered by the government as a quarantine area for returning Filipinos from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (2019- nCoV) outbreak in December.

The rear section of the drug rehabilitation facility is being eyed to serve as a temporarily house for the proposed 14-day quarantine for Filipinos who would be repatriated from China on a chartered flight at government’s expense.

The proposed quarantine section at the massive drug-treatment facility was donated to the government in 2016, and could accommodate 2,500 people, Duque said.

Edited by Lzb

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