PNP to supervise quarantine center at PhilSports Arena

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa in his virtual presscon. File photo from the PNP Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday said it will manage the operations at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig, which was converted into a mega quarantine facility for COVID-19 cases.

“The Philippine National Police is grateful to DPWH [Department of Public Works and Highways] for the prompt conversion of the PhilSports Arena into another quarantine center, that will be the 2nd such facility managed and operated by the PNP Health Service under the supervision of DOH [Department of Health] and IATF-MEID [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases],” PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said in a statement.

Gamboa said medical personnel from the PNP Health Service will oversee and lead operations at the quarantine facility, which can accommodate 132 mild and asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 patients.

“It is an honor for the PNP, especially our frontline police medical and healthcare personnel to be given this vital responsibility to take the lead in putting into action the government’s response to this health crisis,” he said.

The conversion of the Pasig-based arena was finished last April 21, the National Task Force against COVID-19 previously said.

Aside from the PhilSports Arena, the PNP was also tasked to manage operations at the quarantine site at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay.

JPV