The Koronadal City government has opened a 105-bed isolation facility for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, the biggest for the area since the onset of the pandemic last year.
Mayor Eliordo Ogena said the isolation center at the Marbel-1 Central Elementary School in Barangay Gen. Paulino Santos began accepting patients May 15.
Ogena explained three initial beds have been allotted per room, equipped with basic amenities such as Wi-Fi connection, television sets, and necessary supplies.
“We’re still working on expanding it to achieve our maximum target of 200 beds.”
“We’re still working on expanding it to achieve our maximum target of 200 beds,” the mayor said during the local government’s radio program “Tingog sang Pagsanyog”.
He said they decided to set up a bigger isolation center to cope with the increasing COVID-19 cases in the city.
As of May 13, the confirmed infections in the area reached 1,291, with 28 related deaths and 1,008 recoveries.
Ogena said they expect the 258 active cases in the city to further increase because of expanded screening and testing.
“The City Health Office is collecting an average of 100 swab samples per day.”
“The City Health Office is collecting an average of 100 swab samples per day for Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction testing,” he said.
City Architect Marvin Alegria, who led the preparation of the new isolation center, said the local government may later transfer patients undergoing home quarantine and those staying in local hotels to ensure their proper monitoring.
Alegria said this would allow the city’s health care workers to just focus on one facility and provide better care to the patients.