by Regina Elaine Vendivil

The Philippine Red Cross together with Metro Manila mayors will be converting classrooms of schools into isolation wards for asymptomatic cases to prevent household transmissions. 

Among the schools to be converted into isolation wards is the Ateneo de Manila University, utilizing 32 classrooms of the Ateneo Junior High School. 

Red Cross Chairman Senator Richard Gordon announced on Tuesday, April 6, that operations  in the university will begin on April 8.

The initiative by the Philippine Red Cross is to help decrease the overwhelming number of patients in the overpopulated NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, and Cavite) hospitals. 

These isolation wards will be having a maximum capacity of six (6) people, inclusive of the assigned nurse and keeper. 

In cooperation with the Philippine Medical Association and the Philippine Nurses Association, telemedicine will be available to every room to better assist isolated patients. 

Showers, portable toilets, and beds per room will also be provided by the Red Cross. Currently, they have received around two thousand (2000) mattresses which will be distributed among the schools.

“Habang wala pang face-to-face classes, gagamitin natin ang mga eskwela sa Metro Manila para pagdalhan ng mga asymptomatic spreaders, upang ligtas ang kanilang pamilya at tuluyang mapawi ang pagkalat ng COVID-19,” stated Gordon in a tweet last April 6. 

(While there are still no face-to-face classes, schools in Metro Manila will be used to isolate asymptomatic spreaders, to keep their family safe, and to stop the spread of COVID-19.)

As of Monday, April 5, 2021, the country’s total number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 800,000 with 8,355 new cases, having a total of 143,726 active cases and 803,398 total cases. 

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Reference:
https://www.rappler.com/nation/red-cross-metro-manila-mayors-put-up-isolation-wards-schools

Photo from Philippine Red Cross Facebook page