San Juan converts school to 100-bed coronavirus quarantine facility

MANILA - The San Juan City government said Thursday it would convert the city's science high school into a quarantine facility for suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The new building of the San Juan City Science High School will be turned into a 100-bed isolation facility, which will be supervised by the city's health office and San Juan Medical Center.

It will also serve as a "staging area" before the city's confirmed COVID-19 cases are admitted in the hospital.

Through their "Kalinga Kontra Korona" initiative led by the Alumni Association of Xavier School, the Xavier School will provide hospital beds, mobile X-rays, medical supplies, medicines, medical and other front-line personnel, as well as food, water and other necessities.

"This offer by the Xavier community to help us out in creating a COVID-19 overflow facility is indeed Godsent. We are very thankful to Xavier School for the support that they will be giving the City of San Juan," city mayor Francis Zamora said in a statement.

The school was chosen by local authorities as a quarantine facility due to its central location, proximity to the San Juan Medical Center and city hall and having no immediate neighbors.

The San Juan Medical Center currently has a 17-bed isolation facility and is creating 2 more wards that can cater 25 COVID-19 patients.

To date, the city has 57 confirmed coronavirus cases, 102 patients under investigation (PUIs) and 222 persons under monitoring (PUMs).

"We all want to win this battle vs COVID-19, and we will if we all do what it takes — stay home and keep safe! Let's keep fighting," Zamora wrote on his official Facebook page.