Bacolod eyes school as quarantine area for PUMs

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – A local top official here recently announced their plans of using a public school building and a sports center as quarantine center for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), and respiratory center, respectively.

City Administrator Em Ang said that Mayor Evelio Leonardia has created a Technical Working Group (TWG) to supervise the COVID-19 quarantine center.

Ang, who is also a part of the TWG, said that they have chosen to use the Education and Training Center School (ETCS)-I extension building at the Reclamation area in Barangay 16 as pilot quarantine facility for Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) here, after a meeting with several groups and associations of doctors here and members of the Bacolod Task Force against COVID-19.

PUMs are persons who have no signs and symptoms of COVID-19 but travelled to infected areas and may have potential exposure to infected persons.

“It will be ready in the next few days,” she said.

The school building has 36 classrooms with a clinic, feeding facility, and other offices. Each classroom also has a bathroom.

Ang said that PUMs will be strictly monitored by the barangay health workers under the supervision of the City Health Office (CHO). These PUMs will be checked and assessed if they show symptoms of the viral disease within the 14-day quarantine period.

Meanwhile, Ang said that the city government is also planning to use the Bacolod Arts, Youth, and Sports (BAYS) Center in front of the public plaza as a respiratory center.

Ang said that the respiratory center is intended for patients who are manifesting symptoms of respiratory conditions.

“This will remarkably decongest the Out Patient Department (OPD) of hospitals here,” she said, adding that most of the patients with cold or flu are now going for a medical consultation at the OPD due to fear for a possible COVID-19 infection.

The center will be used as venue for medical consultations of respiratory-related conditions to be supervised by pulmonologists and doctors, the city administrator said.

Ang said they will put up cubicles to examine each patient.

She said they are also planning to use seven other schools based on the Department of Education (DepEd) districts as quarantine centers in case there is surge on the number of PUMs here.

On the other hand, Ang also said that 38 isolation rooms in all hospitals here can cater COVID-19 patients.