A quarantine facility that houses 550 beds, the largest facility so far built in the country, was opened in Calamba city, Laguna on Saturday to to augment Calabarzon's COVID-19 response by increasing the patient-isolation capacity of the region.

The opening of the facility came as the government expected a spike in coronavirus cases after a series of typhoons hit the country.

“Dahil nagkaroon ng sunud-sunod na kalamidad, ang ating evacuation centers natin di maiiwasan magkaroon ng pagkakadikit-dikit. And we expect na magkakaroon tayo ng increases on our COVID-19 cases,” National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

(Due to the successive calamities, people will crowd the evacuation centers. We expect increases in our COVID-19 cases).

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The P50 million repurposed quarantine facility was originally the regional government center of Calabarzon.

It has complete amenities for patients, as well as a healthcare workers’ quarters with CCTV cameras installed.

“With the construction of this mega quarantine facility, we now have an adequate COVID response for isolation in your region," NTF vice-chair Eduard Año said during the ceremonial turnover.

“Gayunpaman, 'wag po tayo magkumpiyansa. Pangalagaan pa rin po natin ang ating mga kalusugan at panatilihin na lagi tayong naka-mask.”

(This doesn't mean we'll let our guards down. Let's take care of our health and always wear our face masks.)

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