FOUR of the city’s COVID-19 isolation centers will be temporarily closed for “cost-cutting”.
According to City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo, the V Dorms and the Ferrioni apartment along T. Alonzo Street will be temporarily closed.
The closures are due to a need to reduce the city’s expenses in maintaining the isolation centers, Galpo said.
Due to the downward trend of COVID-19 incidence in the city, some of the isolation centers are open but serve no use, prompting the city to instead temporarily close the facilities until such time these are needed again.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong assured that the said isolation facilities will only be closed for as long as they are not needed and can be reopened quickly should the need arise.
However, the facilities will first wait for the completion of isolation protocols for those already using the facility before they can be closed down.
Other than the four closed isolation centers, the city has a 300 bed isolation facility in the once-closed Sto. Niño Hospital, as well as 500 beds of capacity in Teacher’s Camp.
The city also has a 24-bed isolation unit at the Baguio Convention Center (BCC), adjacent to the city’s central triage area.
According to Galpo, the excess in beds is due both to an overall decrease in cases as well as increasing numbers of COVID-19 recoveries in the city.
