Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. Screengrab from Kapihan sa Manila Bay video interview.
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are planning to complete five more modular hospitals by June to accommodate more COVID-19 patients.
In a taped message played in a DOH briefing on Friday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said “the DOH and DPWH aim to complete five more modular hospitals in NCR, Batangas, and Davao by June this year.”
To complement the increase of available beds in Metro Manila, Duque said 136 health workers from other regions have been redeployed to the capital region.
He added that the DOH has also provided funds for emergency hiring of health personnel amid the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients.
“We have downloaded at least P348 million to Metro Manila DOH hospitals, specialty hospitals and other DND (Department of National Defense) and LGU (local government unit) health facilities for the HRH (human resources for health) emergency hiring covering their salary and benefits for the period of March to June 2021,” said Duque.
According to Duque, a total of 3,436 beds were added to the NCR Plus following the declaration of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and MECQ. He said the figure is composed of 164 intensive care unit beds, 2,227 beds for moderate and severe, and 1,045 beds for mild and asymptomatic cases.
“This week, more than six new TTMFs (temporary treatment and monitoring facilities) and isolation facilities with over 1,700 beds in NCR and nearby provinces will be open and running,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Center for Mental Health was also designated as a COVID-19 facility for moderate cases with around 1,000 beds, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The government aims to further increase the country’s healthcare capacity amid the surge of coronavirus infections. Data from the DOH showed that there are 904,285 COVID-19 cases in the country as of Thursday, which includes 183,527 active cases.