LOCAL government units (LGUs) can continue to use public schools as isolation centers until Aug. 15, 2020.
The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force released a memorandum with the announcement of the extension.
Initially, the Department of Education (DepEd) only gave LGUs until July 30 to vacate the schools.
The news pleased the Mandaue City Government, which has been pulling out from the public schools since last month.
John Eddu Ibañez, Mayor Jonas Cortes’ executive secretary, said some of the barangay captains were thankful for the extension since they still had no idea where to transfer patients with the coronavirus disease 2019 who are currently housed in the isolation centers.
The Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office started decontaminating schools used as isolation units on July 29.
The City continues to occupy three of the nine public schools it used as isolation centers with the permission of the DepEd Mandaue.
The schools will be clustered, one for the northern part of the city, one for the southern part, while the Mandaue City Central School will serve as the Mandaue City Central Isolation Unit. The facility can accommodate around 1,700 patients.
Ibañez said they are yet to determine which school from the north and south to use as there still some qualifications to be met. (KFD)