SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) took over a six-storey hotel building here in the Subic Bay Freeport for use as additional care and isolation facility in the fight against the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma inspected the former Leciel Hotel here on Monday following its turnover on a temporary agreement with the Philippine Veterans Bank, which controls the property.
Eisma said the hotel has 81 rooms, mostly with their own toilet, bath and kitchen, which can be converted into care and isolation rooms. Utility companies here also restored power and water supplies to the hotel on Monday at the behest of the SBMA.
“We don’t want to be caught unprepared in case more patients of Covid-19 turn up. We must be ready for any eventuality because in a pandemic situation we should expect the normal health care system to be overwhelmed,” Eisma explained.
“We pray that eventually this won’t have to be used, but right now our duty is to find all means possible to be able to respond to this health emergency,” she added.
Aside from Leciel Hotel, the SBMA is converting the Subic Gym into a care and isolation facility for PUIs with mild to moderate symptoms. This will enable the Baypointe Hospital and Medical Center in the Subic Freeport to serve PUIs with severe symptoms, those with comorbidities or existing medical conditions, and COVID-19 positive patients, Eisma said.
Baypointe, which is just two blocks away from Leciel Hotel, has a limited room capacity, and has admitted several PUIs from various Zambales towns and the nearby Olongapo City.
“With increased capacity, we will be able to provide for the needs of the local Freeport population and, should the need arise, to accommodate as well referrals by the Department of Health (DOH) from other areas.” Eisma explained. She added that under government protocol, the DOH can assign and apportion PUIs among different hospitals in order to manage overall capacity.
The SBMA chief said that as early as last month, the Subic agency has been eyeing the former Hanjin condominium at Subic’s Naval Magazine area for conversion into an isolation facility, but said venue was scrapped because it was too far.
As care and isolation facilities, both Leciel Hotel and the Subic Gym will be under the supervision of experts from the DOH-Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) and Baypointe Hospital, Eisma said.
At the same time, the SBMA chief revealed that the Subic agency is exploring ways to outsource a complete diagnostics Covid-19 test system from South Korea. This will allow the SBMA to operate a remote dedicated center for Covid-19 tests in partnership with a DOH-accredited public laboratory or testing center.
“The overall plan for the SBFZ response is to strengthen local capacity to hunker down and withstand the worst, which is the possibility of a surge in local infections—while, at the same time, instituting tougher measures to suppress the virus and deprive its means of acquiring more targets,” Eisma said.
“It’s essentially a combination of defensive and offensive measures that presuppose a community that strictly observes quarantine and social distancing as the first line of defense, and then backed by a capable and reliable health care system,” she added.
Eisma also said that effective April 1, Subic Bay Freeport residents who shall exit the Freeport shall be required to surrender their SBMA ID and Quarantine Pass, thereby preventing their re-entry into the SBFZ. This is designed to prevent residents from freely moving in and out of the zone, which is a violation of the Luzon-wide quarantine declared by Malacañang, she added. (Dante M. Salvaña)