Health Undersecretary and treatment czar Leopoldo Vega. PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — An isolation facility in Subic that could house up to 280 patients will soon be operational, treatment czar and Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said Tuesday as the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country overwhelms hospitals.
“We were able to fast-track an isolation facility in Subic and that’s roughly about 250 to 280 beds in the Manila Times Compound. This will soon be operational,” Vega said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
Vega said the government is likewise opening up residences in the New Clark City in Tarlac as isolation facilities for mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
He said putting up more isolation facilities for such patients can ease the burden of hospitals, most of which have already reached full capacity.
INQUIRER file photo / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
“Forty-one percent of patients admitted in Level 1, 2, 3 hospitals have mild and asymptomatic cases,” he said.
“If we are able to provide more isolation, this will really decompress the hospitals,” he added.
Vega also noted that local government units are also “trying to ramp up” the number of isolation centers in their areas “by making use of hotels and motels and even the public schools.”
This is to ensure “that people afflicted with COVID-19 are isolated and those who are going to be observed are placed in quarantine,” he added.
The Philippines has been logging record-high daily additional COVID-19 infections, with the highest single-day increase at 15,310 infections reported last April 2.
On Monday, the Philippines’ COVID-19 case tally exceeded 800,00 after the DOH reported 8,355 new infections. Of the total, 143,726 are active cases.