FRONTRUNNING Presidential candidate Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and mayoral candidate, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna are asking the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) to allow the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital to stay in its location for at least six more months, specially amid a warning from government authorities of a possible surge in the coming months due to slated big events like the Ramadan, Holy Week and 2022 elections.
Moreno revealed that the NPDC had written the city government asking it to dismantle already the said field hospital, which sits on the Burnham Green area in Luneta Park.
“Sinulatan kami ng NPDC to dismantle. Nakikiusap kami na bigyan kami ng elbow room for six months kasi hindi natin masasabi kung tapos na ang COVID,” Moreno said.
He added: “While we all agree na medyo na-manage na ang COVID, but also, at the same time, we have to remember that COVID infections started with just one and we still have a few thousands in the country.”
Moreno said building the COVID hospital, the seventh being operated by the local government of Manila under the directorship of Dr. Arlene Dominguez, was not an easy task “kaya ako nakikiusap kung pwede ng i-extend muna ang paggamit ng lote ng Burnham Green para handa pa rin tayo, parang Boy Scout na laging handa.”
The mayor said that the field hospital can still save lives “and even if we are talking about just one, life is life, ang bawat buhay ay mahalaga.”
For her part, Lacuna, who is on top of the Manila government’s health clulster, said that based on a report from Dominguez, the said hospital continues to have patients and never had a zero occupancy since it opened in June last year.
“Dapat talagang i-retain ang COVID hospital at least up to the end of this year. Siyempre, baka may possible surges pa,” Lacuna said.
Lacuna, also a doctor, also noted reports of new variants still emerging or possibly emerging, despite a decline in the number of active cases.
The city’s field hospital, she said, has patients coming from the six city-owned hospitals who are COVID patients classified as mild to moderate cases. Its purpose is to declog the regular city-run hospitals of COVID cases so they can focus better on serious or critical ones.
A total of 344 beds were put in the hospital along with equipment and facilities like oxygen tanks, ambulances and medical frontliners, in view of the possibility of COVID surges which happened. (Baby Cuevas)
