Most COVID Quarantine Facilities Shutting Down – DOH
Health Undersecretary and Treatment Czar Leopoldo Vega many temporary treatment and monitoring facilities will be closed down as they no longer have patients positive for COVID-19.
Most of the temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) in areas under Alert Level 1 will be closed down because they practically have no more COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday, March 5.
In a phone interview, Health Undersecretary and Treatment Czar Leopoldo Vega said there is now “very low admission” of COVID-19 patients in most TTMFs, commonly known as quarantine facilities.
“Some TTMFs had five percent (occupancy) while in many other facilities, there are no patients anymore. The facilities that still have patients will be maintained,” Vega said.
He could not immediately ascertain how many facilities are closing because a number of them are managed by local government units (LGUs), the police or the military.
The TTMFs directly linked to hospitals are the ones usually handled by the DOH.
Vega said the low cases of COVID-19 now and the milder symptoms that the Omicron variant presents pave the way for the closure of TTMFs.
He underscored that those infected and manifesting symptoms of COVID-19 should undergo home isolation to prevent the spread of the virus in the community.
“They have to strictly comply with home isolation. If we want this pandemic to end, the behavior of people has to change,” he stressed.
Vega assured the public that if the need arises, the TTMFs are ready to open up again. “They have a flexible plan for transition. They can actually adjust to the occasion,” he said.
