SC, Red Cross sign pact for COVID facility

The Supreme Court has partnered with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde for the exclusive use of a portion of the school’s COVID-19 isolation and quarantine facility.

The SC stressed that the 135 isolation rooms in DLS-CSB, with 50 rooms or one floor, will be allocated exclusively to the court and judiciary personnel working in Metro Manila and nearby provinces under the so-called “NCR Plus Bubble.”

In a statement, the high court said the PRC-managed facility will only accept patients from the judiciary if they are referred by the SC Medical and Dental Services (MDS) as asymptomatic or with mild COVID-19 symptoms.

The tribunal said the use of the facility shall be on a first come, first served basis. No walk-ins shall be allowed.

Likewise, no visitors shall be allowed to enter the PRC isolation facility.

The SC-MDS has been mandated to prepare and submit to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) a daily status report on the employees who are admitted in the PRC isolation facility, and the OCA must endorse the same to the Office of the Chief Justice. 

The move came as the SC is looking for other measures on how it can help the employees of the Judiciary who may have contracted the COVID-19 virus and prevent its employees from struggling to find a hospital for treatment.

DLS-CSB earlier announced that it converted some of its unused classrooms into an isolation facility that will serve asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients, in partnership with the PRC, on April 22.