Metro Manila classrooms eyed as isolation facility

MANILA, Philippines — Half of the public school classrooms in Metro Manila would be used as isolation facilities while face-to-face classes are not yet allowed.

“The Palace confirms that 50 percent of public school classrooms in the National Capital Region will be used as temporary quarantine facilities as negotiated and agreed upon by both the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement yesterday.

The resumption of face-to-face classes would resume in January if a vaccine or medicine for COVID-19 is developed, he added.

The school year will start on Aug. 24 but blended learning approaches, including online classes, would be adopted.

The DepEd has given assurances that the government is ready for the start of classes this month despite concerns that some areas do not have internet access.

The Philippines has logged 143,749 COVID-19 infections as of yesterday, 72,348 of them active cases. Nearly half or 49 percent of the country’s 11,500 isolation beds have been occupied as of Aug. 11, according to the DOH.

Officials have vowed to intensify tracing, testing, treatment and isolation efforts to contain the coronavirus while reopening the economy.

House ways and means committee chairman Albay Rep. Joey Salceda yesterday sounded the alarm on the country’s healthcare capacity amid the increase in COVID-19 cases.

Salceda warned that the intensive care unit (ICU) capacity of hospitals in the country would reach the danger level of 70 percent capacity next week when COVID cases are expected to reach 150,000.

“My outbreak science team and I ran the numbers. When the national numbers hit 70 percent occupancy, some regions face even tougher conditions, because that’s a national average that includes lower rates from non-critical regions,” the Albay representative revealed.

Salceda attributed the congestion of healthcare facilities to lack of facilities for mild cases. – Edu Punay