Talks to use Noah complex as vaccination site ongoing

ANOTHER PURPOSE. After serving as an isolation center for asymptomatic coronavirus patients for almost a year,
the New Normal Oasis for Adaptation and a Home complex at the South Road Properties in Cebu will be turned over to its owner Bigfoot Studio at the end of the month. The City Government is negotiating with management to convert the facility into a vaccination site. / SUNSTAR FILE
ANOTHER PURPOSE. After serving as an isolation center for asymptomatic coronavirus patients for almost a year, the New Normal Oasis for Adaptation and a Home complex at the South Road Properties in Cebu will be turned over to its owner Bigfoot Studio at the end of the month. The City Government is negotiating with management to convert the facility into a vaccination site. / SUNSTAR FILE

THE New Normal Oasis for Adaptation and a Home (Noah) complex may reopen as a vaccination site in June.

The facility operated as an isolation center for asymptomatic and mild coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients for about a year before it shut its doors on May 5, 2021.

The memorandum of agreement between the Cebu City Government and BigFoot Studio, which owns the facility, ended on May 15.

Noah manager Jocelyn Pesquera said they will formally close the complex and return it to BigFoot on May 30.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama said they’re negotiating with BigFoot Studio and waiting for management to give them the green light.

Should BigFoot Studio approve the proposal, buses owned by the City will be used to ferry people to and from the South Road Properties where the facility is located, Pesquera said.

She said the complex is an ideal place for a vaccination site with its large space, proper building ventilation and wide parking space.

During a press conference held on Thursday, May 20, Pesquera said the last Covid-19 patient was due to be discharged that same day.

The Noah complex has catered to 1,785 asymptomatic cases, 972 symptomatic cases and 158 step-down care cases.

Some were referred there by hospitals in the city, said former city health officer Daisy Villa.

Villa, who was assigned in the facility, said they never had a single fatality.

On the contrary, 57 babies were born at the Noah complex, 14 last year and 43 this year, as the facility was also accredited as a birthing place.

Forty-three of the mothers who gave birth were Covid-19 positive, while the rest were negative.

Villa said all the babies delivered in the facility tested negative for the virus.

The Noah complex stopped accepting pregnant women on May 18.

Meanwhile, the City Government has asked essential and economic workers, or those who belong to Priority Code A4, to register online at pabakunata.com, although their inoculation has yet to begin.

Category A4.1 is composed of workers of commuter transport, including land, air and sea and logistics, while A4.2 is composed of market vendors and workers in supermarkets, groceries and delivery services.

Workers should wait for a text message from the City, through CEBUCITYVAX, for their schedule. (JJL)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph