Makati, Red Cross open isolation facility

MANILA, Philippines — The Makati government, in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), has converted unused dormitories at the Makati Science High School (MSHS) into a 56-bed quarantine facility that will accommodate asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

On Tuesday, Mayor Abby Binay and PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon held a virtual signing of a memorandum of agreement, which highlighted the opening of the isolation facility on the MSHS campus in Barangay Cembo.

Binay said the quarantine facility would strengthen the city’s efforts in isolating people infected with COVID-19.

Housing COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms in a quarantine site will limit the transmission of the virus, the mayor said.

Binay said families infected with the virus could stay together at family rooms in the dormitory, which is also equipped with male, female and gender-neutral rooms.

It would also help treat COVID-19 patients who are in the early stages of infection instead of waiting for the symptoms to become severe and untreatable, she said.

The MSHS isolation facility is the city’s fifth quarantine center.

Under the agreement, the PRC would provide beds, medical supplies, hygiene kits, water, bathroom and shower facilities as well as a system to monitor patients’ data.

Binay thanked the PRC for increasing the city’s healthcare capacity.

The MSHS isolation facility is the first partnership between the PRC and Makati.