The local government is pursuing the repairs of the Baguio city Community Isolation Unit based at the former Sto. Nino hospital to ensure that the facility will be ready when the city will need it in the future.
City Budget Officer Leticia O. Clemente stated that the closed circuit television (CCTV) wirings and some of the repairs being done in the accredited isolation unit were already completed by the personnel of the City mayor’s Office – Management Information and Technical division (CMO-MITD).
Further, she added that repairs of the different rooms and other fixtures are currently being undertaken by the personnel of the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) so that the same will be completed the soonest to ensure its readiness when there will be an increase of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients being required to undergo isolation in the said facility.
On the other hand, the city budget officer stipulated that the Baguio Teachers Camp isolation unit was already closed as of March 30, 2022 although repairs in the said facility are also underway courtesy of CBAO personnel.
However, Clemente explained that the local government is required to replace the beddings that were used during the duration of the community quarantine period that is why the replacement of the same is still subject to procurement courtesy of the City Health Services Office (CHSO) and the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).
Moreover, she revealed that the city was also required to pay the Baguio Teachers Camp of the rental payment for patients admitted from January 1 to March 30, 2022 at P20 per head per day which will be used by the management to pay the workers that were hired to help the health workers from the local government in the isolation of suspected and probable COVID-19 patients in the camp among other purposes.
According to her, the local government will continue to manage and operation the city’s community isolation unit to ensure its readiness for whatever untoward incidents that may trigger sudden surges in cases primarily because of the emergence of the various more infectious variants of the virus which are already present in the country.
The community isolation unit has a total bed capacity of around 360 to cater to the prescribed isolation of patients who will contract the virus in the coming weeks or months.
