Mayor Carmelo ‘Pogi’ Lazatin Jr. coordinated with representatives of public and private hospitals here to designate COVID-19 centers which will accommodate confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Upon the agreement, the Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center also known as Ospital ning Angeles, and the Philippine Rehabilitation Institute will be the isolation areas of suspected patients.
“We do not want the coronavirus to enter our city. As much as possible, we want to contain the virus in a certain area if COVID-19 cases are confirmed.
I will make sure that we are one step ahead in dealing with this pandemic,” Mayor Lazatin said.
According to Mayor Lazatin, this falls under the Prevention and Control Plans of the City to contain the virus in a certain area.
“I am very thankful for the cooperation and initiative of all the public and private hospitals operating in our City. This is the time for bayanihan and all of them heed to my call,” Lazatin added.
Chief Adviser IC Calaguas further said the representatives also agreed to come up with a joint research statistics model of Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) and Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) from their respective research units that will aid the city in contact tracing.
The confinement area for patients found positive of COVID-19 is already installed near ONA, upon the instruction of Mayor Lazatin, according to Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel.
Mayor Lazatin, with Dr. Froilan Canlas, Dr. John Kit already inspected the area, where Lazatin also made sure that medical staff has adequate protective gear, she said.
“Dahil kung lahat ng suspected PUM o PUI patient ay pupunta sa hospital, mauubusan tayo ng espasyo sa ospital at ng mga health workers na puwedeng tumulong sa kanila. Sa bawat exposure ng isang health worker ay masusubject narin siya sa quarantine at hindi na magagamit sa panggagamot ng ibang nangangailangan ng immediate health attention,” Mayor Lazatin furthered.
The representatives from ONA, Dr. Garcia Medical Center, St. Catherine Of Alexandria Foundation and Medical Center, Jongno East Medical Center, Angeles Medical Center, Philippine Rehabilitation Institute Medical Center, Holy Family Medical Center, and Angeles University Foundation Medical Center were present during the meeting.