The City Government of Navotas has doubled its capacity to isolate patients in preparation for a potential increase of cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Navotas converted the Navotas Polytechnic College into its second community isolation facility (CIF) with 110 bed capacity. Meanwhile, its first CIF at the Navotas National High School can accommodate up to 100 patients.
The CIFs will serve as temporary shelters and recovery facilities for COVID-19 positive patients with mild symptoms.
“The numbers of confirmed cases in our city is still increasing and we expect, though we hope otherwise, that the trend will continue as we pursue our targeted COVID-19 testing,” Mayor Toby Tiangco said.
“The health department said the ideal ratio for population to isolation bed is 2,500:1. Navotas has about 250,000 residents. Our second CIF essentially doubled our capacity to isolate and care for our patients,” he added.
Tiangco also noted the urgent need to isolate patients from their families, especially those who do not have rooms where they could quarantine themselves.
“The CIF will minimize transmission among families and neighborhoods, and keep communities at ease. It will also serve as safe and comfortable place for patients to recover from the disease,” he added.
Each room at the NPC CIF has NavoConnect wifi to provide entertainment to patients. CCTV cameras are also installed for easy monitoring of patients, and to limit physical visits of medical staff to reduce their risks of infection.
Patients with severe symptoms are treated at the Navotas City Hospital. Critical patients, on the other hand, are referred to designated COVID-19 hospitals