Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella inspect the Cebu City Quarantine Center at the North Reclamation Area late last month during its inauguration.| Photo Courtesy of Cebu City PIO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The still-unused P100 million Cebu City Quarantine Center at the North Reclamation Area has finally been granted the license to operate by the Department of Health (DOH)
Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) Hospital Administrator Yvonne Feliciano officially announced that the CCQC now had a license to operate.
The DOH accreditation team conducted its final inspection at the Cebu City Quarantine Center, Wednesday, May 27, 2020 to see if the center had complied with the requirements for a community isolation unit.
This means that the individuals, who will be admitted to the facility, can use the benefits of government health care including PhilHealth.
“We are thankful that the CCQC is already DOH accredited because patients can already avail the entire benefit provided by the government including PhilHealth. I want to thank everyone who took part in building and preparing our quarantine facility,” said Mayor Edgardo Labella said.
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The Cebu City Quarantine Facility was promised to have a negative pressure ventilation system that would block airborne transmission and would prevent contaminated air from escaping the facility, and the equipment was finally installed approximately a month ago.
This would be the first negative pressure quarantine center in the country owned and operated by a local government unit.
City Administrator Floro Casas, Jr., said that the negative pressure equipment was the reason why the quarantine center was accredited by the DOH.
The city government said that the CCQC was ready to accept patients with mild to moderate symptoms since April 25 when it was inaugurated.
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But for more than a month, no patients was admitted at the facility because there were no symptomatic patients who would need to be isolated in the facility yet. Most of the COVID-19 patients in the city are asymptomatic.
“Malipay gani ta kay pasabot ana wala pa naoverwhelm ang level 2 nga facility. Kining mga pasyente angay mosulod dinha, wa pa niabot sa gidaghanun nga ato nang ipansak diha sa atong quarantine facility,” said City Attorney Rey Gealon, Mayor Labella’s spokesperson.
(We are happy with this development because this means that our level 2 facility has not yet been overwhelmed with patients. It has not yet reached that point with regard to the number people that can overwhelm the facility.)/dbs