San Juan offers COVID-19 patients free treatment, P3,000 aid

PATIENT-READY San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora (right) inspects one of the city’s isolation facilities at the San Juan Medical Center. He has asked infected residents to check into the centers to stop them from spreading the virus to their families. (Photo by JOAN BONDOC / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — To encourage residents who contract the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to check into the city’s isolation facilities, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora has promised to pay for their treatment and provide them with free food and financial assistance of P3,000.

The city government on Wednesday showed to media its newest San Juan COVID-19 Kalinga Center with a medical staff on call 24 hours a day.

Zamora said the Kalinga Center, a joint project of the local government and the Alumni Association of Xavier School, was originally a quarantine facility for suspected cases. It was later converted into a treatment facility for patients who were asymptomatic or experiencing mild symptoms.

“We want to reduce the number of new infections and ultimately defeat COVID-19 in San Juan City, that is why we are encouraging our constituents who are COVID-19 positive to admit themselves into any of our three isolation facilities,” Zamora said, adding that this would also reduce the risk of patients infecting their loved ones.

The two other isolation facilities are at the San Juan Medical Center and San Juan National High School.

“We want to let the San Juaneños know that the city will look after them, make sure they recover from the virus, that they do not spend a single centavo and that they have P3,000 which they can spend or send to their family while in convalescence,” Zamora said. “We are exerting all efforts so that COVID-19 patients in San Juan will have a good experience while they are confined in our medical facilities.”