Zambo targets to build 1,000-bed Covid wards

THERE IS now a shortage of Covid-19 wards in both private and government hospitals due to the steady increase in active cases of the new coronavirus disease.

 

Zamboanga City's isolation facilities. (Bong Serondo)

Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, has ordered at least 300 additional beds on top of the 700 beds in various isolation facilities to address the growing number of patients. 

“Our original plan of 700-bed capacity isolation facilities has already been increased to 1000-bed capacity,” she said, urging residents anew to follow the health protocols. 

“No amount of our (virtual news) presser or warning can resolve this (health) issue if people do not respond accordingly. The important thing is that we take into account and consideration que el Covid-19 hinde ta escoge maga gente. Hinde egual antes, uno lang ta queda active na un casa, este tiempo, el entero miembros de familia ta queda (Covid-19) positive,” she added. 

City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite confirmed that most hospitals in Zamboanga City are now full. 

Climaco ordered the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office and the City Engineer’s Office to build more isolation facilities. At present, the local government is the following as isolation centers - Ateneo de Zamboanga University Lantaka, Euntes Asian Mission Center, the Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone and the Baliwasan Grandstand. 

The mayor has been regularly inspecting repair and renovation of the isolation wards. 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) also built isolation facilities in Barangay Pasonanca to augment the existing quarantine facilities and mitigate the rapid spread of the deadly respiratory virus.  

The construction of the quarantine facility followed the standard designs and plans proposed by the DPWH in collaboration with the Department of Health. Three more tents will be constructed by DPWH with 30 more beds capacity.  

The facility consists of two constructed tents with 20 beds capacity and are equipped with air conditioner units, adequate lighting and ventilation, uninterrupted electricity supply, potable water source and sewer line. It has separate doors intended for entrance and exit while a common toilet and bath is constructed adjacent to each tent.  

The project was recently inaugurated by DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain and turned over to Climaco and was also witnessed by DPWH Region 9 Director Cayamombao Dia and Assistant Director Honorato Saldua. 

Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, thanked DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, saying the isolation facility, completed at the more opportune time, will go a long way in controlling further spread Covid-19.  

The mayor also made sure that those families affected by the granular lockdown due to Covid-19 receive their food aid. 

And just recently, Climaco asked Councilor El King Omaga to assist the San Roque Barangay Council led by its chairman Edgardo Delgado in the distribution of family packs from the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) for some 40 families whose houses are under lockdown. 

The CSWDO under Maria Socorro Rojas said other areas under lockdown also received food packs as part of the Climaco administration’s program to “heal the sick, feed the hungry.” (Zamboanga Post, Jasmine Mohammadsali)

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