DOT: Mobile hospital, drive-through vaccination site to rise in Rizal Park soon
MANILA, Philippines —Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Wednesday announced that a temporary mobile hospital and a drive-through vaccination site will be constructed at the Rizal Park, Manila soon.
This, after the board of directors of the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, in a Tuesday meeting approved the proposal of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso to build a temporary health facility at the Burnham Green of Rizal Park.
“We are working together with local government to expedite the dire need for more hospital beds in the region,” NPDC Deputy Executive Director Jezreel Gaius Apelar said in an Instagram story.
Moreno in a letter addressed to NPDC Executive Director Cecille Lorenzana Romero last Monday formally asked the committee to construct a mobile hospital in Rizal Park "in anticipation of a possible surge of COVID-19 cases."
In his letter, the mayor committed to design, construct, maintain, and manage the hospital "up to its logical conclusion,” at no cost to the national government. He also vowed to restore the Burnham Green area where the hospital will rise, back to its original condition.
Aside from the mobile hospital, the NPDC board also approved the construction of a temporary drive-thru vaccination site at the Independence Road (Parade Grounds) of the Quirino Grandstand. This area is also managed by the committee.
The vaccination site will be located beside the drive-thru RT-PCR (Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing facility managed by the City of Manila together with NPDC.
Drive-through testing was launched on July 20 last year and that provided rapid-serology tests for up to 700 individuals daily, five days a week. It was converted into RT-PCR testing last January 18.
Since the latter was launched, the drive-thru testing facility has accommodated 100 persons daily for their COVID-19 tests.
Puyat, who sits as the chair of the NPDC, said Puyat said that the mobile hospital will be open to everyone and will cater to patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
"This bold project by Mayor Isko will boost more beds for the National Capital Region to help fight COVID," Apelar said.
The drive-through vaccination site, on the other hand, is expected to accommodate 350 to 400 individuals for vaccination per day.
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