BALANGA CITY — A mega-facility to house a centralized processing center for coronavirus disease in Bataan is being readied in a three-hectare land in Orani town, Gov. Albert Garcia announced Sunday.
To be known as the Bataan Covid-19 Processing Facility, it is expected to be completed in one or two months and is considered to be the biggest of its kind to rise in the province, the governor said.
It will primarily cater to returning overseas Filipinos (ROF), locally stranded individuals (LSI), seafarers, and even special cases of authorized persons outside of residence (APOR).
The four-storey building of the facility designed by Architect Henry Mayuga will have about 300 separate rooms with toilets for quarantine areas. It will also have a reception area, triage area, a kitchen, a huge parking lot, and an intricate waste disposal system.
Garcia discussed the project with local business leaders and representatives of the Department of Health in a consultative meeting in The Bunker, seat of the provincial government.
The businessmen expressed willingness to be part of the provincial government’s commitment to uphold the health and safety of every Bataan resident in the wake of the latest surge of Covid-19 cases in the province.
The governor said the sudden increase in positive cases was traced to local transmission happening in the communities brought about by the influx in the province of ROF including seafarers, LSIs, and APOR.
“We needed to step up to the emerging challenges in our fight against Covid-19. The centralized processing facility that we have set up in Balanga City sadly gets overwhelmed because the number of OFWs coming home to Bataan increases by the day,” Garcia said.
“The completion of this mega facility will be the most appropriate measure to address that challenge. It will also ease the burden on our health workers because this facility also promotes centralization of manpower,” he added.
Provincial information officer Angel Ortiz Luis said that as of August 15, Bataan has already registered 491 OFWs who have returned to the province. She said 432 of them tested negative for Covid-19 while 12 were found positive with 47 waiting for results.
Of the total confirmed Covid–19 cases as of August 16, Bataan recorded 575 with 207 active cases and 15 deaths. There are 353 recoveries.
