Subic facility to boost Covid-19 fight

THE mega quarantine center at the former campus of The Manila Times College (TMTC) in Subic will further boost the government’s fight against Covid-19, testing czar Vivencio “Vince” Dizon said on Wednesday.

Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19, made the statement after the government on Wednesday formally opened the temporary treatment and monitoring facility (TTMF) that can accommodate over 300 Covid-19 patients.

“The Manila Times College quarantine facility will be one of the biggest Covid-19 facilities in the country with close to 500 beds. It will also be the first integrated facility with a testing laboratory as well as Covid-19 hospital for mild and moderate patients,” Dizon said.

“The opening of the facility couldn’t come at a better time as we face this surge in Covid-19 cases. The NTF thanks Mr. Dante Ang and the entire team at The

Manila Times College for offering this facility to help our fight against Covid-19,” he added, referring to The Manila Times’ chairman emeritus.

This comes as hospitals around the country are running out of intensive care unit (ICU) beds for critical Covid-19 patients amid the surge in infections.

In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said based on their projection, at least two percent of all active cases are critical and the government needs to provide 600 additional ICU beds in Metro Manila.

There are 1,395 ICU beds in the National Capital Region (NCR), with the government looking at adding 1,350 regular beds for those with moderate and mild

symptoms as well as for those who are asymptomatic.

“Sa ngayon, may more than 100,000 na po tayo na active case and normally two percent po noon ay severe at saka critical. So, we will be needing 2,000 beds for severe and critical (Right now, we have more than 100,000 active cases and normally, about two percent are severe and critical [cases]. So, we will be needing 2,000 beds for severe and critical [cases]),” Galvez told Duterte.

“Ang current inventory po natin ay 1,395 ICU beds, so nangangailangan pa po tayo ng total na 605 ICU beds (We have 1,395 ICU beds in our current inventory, so we need a total of 605 ICU beds),” he added.

To address the shortage, Galvez said the government and local government unit (LGU) hospitals and TTMFs have committed to build more beds so they can accommodate more patients.

He said 1,178 additional beds for moderate and severe cases as well as 1,045 additional beds for mild and asymptomatic cases are being built by the government and LGU hospitals, and TTMFs in the NCR, Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

In the coming months, the government will be adding more than 2,000 beds in different areas for moderate and severe cases, as well as for mild and asymptomatic cases.

As of Wednesday, Covid-19 has so far sickened 892,880 people in the country. The tally includes 15,447 deaths, 704,386 recoveries, and 173,047 active cases.