Iloilo town isolates persons with COVID-19 in beach resort

EXERCISE TIME Asymptomatic COVID-19-positive residents of Malangabang Island in Concepcion, Iloilo, recuperate from the disease in a beach resort on the island, where daily exercise is made part of their routine. —PHOTO COURTESY OFMAYOR RAUL BANIAS

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — While many COVID-19 patients isolate themselves in hospitals, hotel rooms, or government facilities, some residents of an island-village in a town in Iloilo province spend their time recuperating in a beach resort.

At least 86 infected but asymptomatic residents of Malangabang Island in Concepcion town are spending their two-week isolation at Pasil Beach Resort and the adjacent Malangabang Elementary School with a stretch of white beach and stunning views of neighboring islands.

“[They] are not at all lonely and depressed,” said Concepcion Mayor Raul Banias in a Facebook post on July 9.

“They have the sun, sand, beach and the sea. [They also have] open ventilation, good food and they have their morning routine exercise. They will all recover completely in no time,” he added.

Banias, a physician, said a pastor who was among those isolated had been leading daily morning prayers.

They are provided with food, water, vitamins, fruits and other necessities by the local government and those donated by other residents.

Volunteers from the community are also helping in preparing food, according to Banias.

Off-site spaces

Those being isolated are staying in separate bamboo cottages and participate in regular physical exercises at the beachfront, which also has a volleyball area.

The beach resort and classrooms were used as off-site isolation spaces because the quarantine facility of the village is already full due to an outbreak on the island, according to an executive order issued by Banias on June 30.Many of the 46,000 residents of Concepcion, 98.4 kilometers northeast of Iloilo City, live in small houses.

Out of 25 barangays, 11 are in islets, making 14-day home quarantine inadvisable to implement even for asymptomatic residents.

The provinces of Antique and Guimaras, meanwhile, have done away with the swab test requirement for fully vaccinated persons, in accordance to a recent order of the national pandemic task force. INQ