Davao City – Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said the city government is preparing additional 891 isolation beds to prepare for a possible surge of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
Duterte, during her Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) Special Hours program, said, “Duna tay pagpangandam sa surge. Ang atong Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities {TTMFs} giandaman nato, gidungagan og mga beds.”
She said the city’s Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities can accommodate 1,993 beds and 429 beds are currently occupied.
“Pag-abot aning 891, muabot na sa 2,884 … approximately ingon ana because ang plano nato, once ma-available ang 800 plus beds, ang ubang private na donated or gipahuram sa mga private offices or organizations na Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities, duna tay plano nga iuli sa ilaha,” the mayor said.
The city government, according to her, will only use government facilities for TTMFs in the meantime so as not to incur any more costs for repairs of private-owned facilities.
She said government facilities do not only mean public schools. “Sagol-sagol man na atong TTMFs. Dili lang sya schools, naay dorm sa government, naay container vans na gi-donate sa atoa.
Government-owned facilities, not necessarily schools, it means pag-aari ng gobyerno (We have a variety of Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities. It’s not just schools; we also have government dorms, container vans that were donated to us. Government-owned facilities are not necessarily just schools; it means facilities owned by the government).”
Meanwhile, Duterte said half of the tent city at the Davao International Airport (DIA) functions as TTMF while the other half is meant for checkpoints.
Davao City Acting Health Officer Dr. Ashley Lopez earlier said that the city currently has 12 functional Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities or isolation facilities intended for confirmed COVID-19 positive cases.
As COVID-19 cases have declined in recent weeks, the city recorded low occupancy rates in Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities and at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
SPMC is currently the sole COVID-19 referral hospital as it caters to all COVID-19 cases, regardless of classification (mild, moderate, severe, critical).
Duterte said in a previous DCRD Special Hours episode that different private hospitals decided and agreed during a meeting that they will no longer accept COVID-19 patients and that all COVID-19 patients will be referred to the SPMC due to the continuing downtrend of coronavirus infections.
However, she said private hospitals will have to prepare their facilities and beds in case of a possible surge. Only then will they resume accepting COVID-19 patients.
(City Information Office | Michael Manguhig, RPN DXKT Davao OIC)