CABANATUAN CITY – Third District Rep. Rosanna Vergara vowed to personally talk to the Department of Health (DOH) to find out measures to ensure the safety of people near Fort Ramon Magsaysay in case the national government finally decides to quarantine repatriates in the rehab center there.
“I will talk to the DOH personally and find out measures they will take to make sure people who live near the area will not be at risk,” Vergara said.
Earlier, she sought close coordination between the DOH and concerned local governments units in connection with the plan to make the mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC) as temporary confinement area for Filipinos from China.
Underscoring the need for correct information, Vergara said she herself has to be informed of the DOH’s plans “so that I am able to relay the right information to my constituents and provide the assistance the DOH needs to ensure the safety and well-being of the patients as well as my constituents.”
She, said the DOH might as well consider a better equipped facility.
“We have the Center for Disease Control located in Las Piñas — might this facility be better equipped to handle the coronavirus as it was built precisely for cases like the coronavirus and it has the medical personnel trained to handle cases like this,” the solon asked.
She noted that the mega rehab center was built as a drug rehab for drug users who voluntarily come to seek medical assistance to overcome their drug dependence. “The facility was built for this objective– it has recreational facilities, common bathrooms, meeting rooms — in short, it is a drug rehab center,” she stressed.
“This facility does not have negative pressure rooms to isolate cross contamination from room to room. Rooms which are vital to ensure that those positively infected will not spread the disease to those patients who are under observation. It does not have the medical personnel trained for highly contagious, fatal diseases,” Vergara said.
She hoped the DOH will make necessary steps and “ensure that the local population living in and near this area specifi cally the soldiers and residents of Laur, Palayan and Cabanatuan will not be exposed to this highly contagious 2019 nCoV.”
“We have to come together as a nation to combat this disease– this is not only the problem of Wuhan, China or people who have tested positive or have been exposed to the virus,” the solon said.
