COVID-19 field hospital
LIKE many well-meaning Filipinos, we welcome the proposed extension of operations of the government-operated “COVID-19 Field Hospital” at the historic Rizal Park in Manila.
With a bed capacity of 336, the P154-million field hospital was established in 2021 as part of the city government’s efforts to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan wants the hospital to continue accepting patients until such time when the government lifts the public health emergency status in the country.
Mayor Pangan’s request for the extension of the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital’s operations was contained in a letter to the National Parks Development Committee (NDPC).
Most of the patients being received by the city government-owned hospital are vacationing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), according to the lady mayor, a medical doctor.
It will be recalled that former Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso spearheaded the building of the field hospital “to quarantine mild to moderate COVID-19 cases.”
And construction of the fully-equipped medical facility was finished on June 11, 2021 but started operations on June 25. It was built in just 52 days by 362 construction workers.
Christened as “Modern-Day Heroes,” Filipino migrant workers, through their billions of dollar remittances, play a stellar role in the country’s socio-economic development.
Throughout the year, these dollar remittances help prop up the still struggling Philippine economy, which was devastated by the crippling COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Lacuna-Pangan and other city government officials are on the right track in requesting the extension of the operations of the “Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital.”
Kasi nandiyan pa naman ang pandemya.
