| Photo by Morexette Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City on Sunday, August 8, opened another isolation facility for COVID-19 patients.
Called the Mega Stay In Center, the 150-bed facility, is housed within the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
City government officials led by Acting Mayor Michael Rama held a ceremonial blessing and opening of the isolation center.
But it will be operational only if the city’s existing barangay isolation centers (BICs) can no longer accommodate asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, said CCSC general manager Jundel Bontuyan.
Bontuyan told reporters in a briefer that they will still allow joggers at the CCSC’s track oval after Sunday’s ceremony.
“We will only close the entire sports center from the public once the first patient will be housed here,” Bontuyan said in Cebuano.
| Photo by Morexette Erram
The Mega Stay In Center was established as part of the city government’s measures in dealing with the more transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19, which local health experts pointed as one of the reasons behind the continued increase of infections in the entire Cebu.
Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr., in a separate interview, said the city allocated around P5 million to activate all isolation centers this year, including the one in CCSC.
Rama added that so far, all seven operating BICs in the city can still accommodate asymptomatic patients.
“As COVID-19 cases are still increasing, we have decided to open isolation facilities such as our Mega Stay In Center as part of our preparation,” Rama said in Cebuano.
“This will only be put into use if our operating BICs can no longer take in patients. And we’re hoping that will not happen,” he added./ dcb