MANILA, Philippines — The East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) in Quezon City will soon become a hospital dedicated to treating coronavirus disease (COVID-19)patients, National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday.
“Sa ngayon magkatuwang si (Department of Public Works) Secretary (Mark) Villar, (country’s testing czar) Sec Vince Dizon at (Health Undersecretary Leopold) Vega na ma-paayos at ma-convert ang East Avenue na maging COVID dedicated hospital,” Galvez said in a press conference during the launch of the command center.
(For now, Villar, Dizon, and Vega are coordinating to convert EAMC into a COVID dedicated hospital.)
EAMC will provide 250 isolation beds and COVID-19 ward beds as well as over 30 beds for the intensive care unit, Galvez said.
Galvez also noted that the government added 50 to 100 additional beds for COVID-19 referral hospitals namely: Philippine General Hospital in Manila and the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City.
To recall, Galvez recommended that four hospitals in Metro Manila must be dedicated to COVID-19 treatment. He said it would maximize COVID-19 treatment at the same time to protect non-coronavirus patients.
As of August 5, the Philippines logged a total of 115,980 COVID-19 cases with 66,270 recoveries and 2,123 deaths.