AMID the surge of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases and the shortage of hospital beds in the country, the quarantine facility for infected patients in San Simon town has been "repurposed."
The supposed isolation center, located inside the town's local government center in Barangay Sto. Niño, was converted into a government office and now houses the Treasurer's Office, Public Employment Services Office, Municipal Civil Registrar Office, and Municipal Planning and Development Office.
The said offices reportedly transferred in the said facility since the start of August due to flooding in the municipal hall that allegedly caused disruption in their operations.
'Condemned' by suspended mayor
The move was condemned by suspended Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr., citing the alleged danger and inconvenience it is causing to Simonian families whose members contracted Covid-19.
According to Punsalan, the quarantine facility, opened in October 2020, had 20 isolated bedrooms with two bathrooms on each side of the building.
The partitions, which separated each patient, were dismantled and all beds were exchanged to office tables and chairs as of Thursday, August 12.
Punsalan said the municipality had no existing quarantine facility as of Thursday, August 12, as reported to him allegedly by patients who tested positive but were sent home.
"Simonians were left with no choice but to either accumulate debt on private hospitals or risk their family to infection if they isolate themselves in their respective houses," Punsalan said.
He said the prioritization of government offices over Covid-19 facility is bad timing, especially that the province is facing a shortage of hospital beds and most local government units across the country are cramming to construct isolation centers and modular hospitals.
He said isolation centers are essential since most houses do not have rooms, which have their own bathroom and which is necessary for Covid-19 patients undergoing home quarantine to prevent infecting their housemates.
"We are in the middle of a pandemic and everyone's priority is health. We can hold office anywhere but we cannot return the lives lost due to Covid-19," Punsalan said.
'Temporary quarantine facility'
Meanwhile, acting Mayor Leonora Wong, who supposedly authorized the dismantling of partition and the transfer of government offices into the facility, belied Punsalan's claim that the town has no Covid-19 quarantine facility.
She pointed at the old police station behind the existing hall, which was transformed into a temporary quarantine facility.
"It is bigger than the building first used as an isolation center and it is more isolated because it is at the back of the municipal hall and people rarely go to that part so chances of virus transmission is lower," she said.
Wong clarified, however, that there was no patient admitted in the facility as of Thursday, August 12.
She said some patients are opting to do home quarantine since the isolation centers do not also have personal bathrooms and proper ventilation due to lack of air-conditioning units.
"Patients are also forced to share bathrooms with other patients when they are in isolation centers so they are opting to stay at the comfort of their homes, and I know Simonians are responsible and love their family enough to not mingle with them during their quarantine period," Wong said.
She said the local government is also preparing to purchase container vans that will be transformed into safer and more comfortable isolation rooms.
"It will be personal rooms, not partition. Each room will also have its own bathroom and we can easily install air-conditioning units. Once the pandemic is done, we can also easily repurpose and even relocate the container vans," she said.
Wong also stressed that the transfer of government offices in the former isolation center is also a health concern as stagnant flood can cause several kinds of diseases.
"If we did not move to the government center, employees would need to stay there for a whole day inside their flooded offices, and many Simonians who avail of government services would not need to wade that dirty and smelly floodwater. Imagine all the possible diseases they may contract even in the short period of their stay," she said.