DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, July 8 (PIA) -- The Dumaguete City government assured residents that it already identified facilities that will be used as evacuation centers during calamities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dumaguete City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Allen Cabaron said apart from the central evacuation center in Brgy. Talay, the city government is also eyeing the use of barangay halls, health units, and covered courts, and the Macias Sports Complex. 

Cabaron said the Department of the Interior and Local Government has requested for an inventory of facilities that can be used as alternative evacuation centers from the city government.

Currently, the city’s main evacuation center inside Dumaguete City High School and the nearby classrooms are used as both quarantine and isolation facilities for asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology has also asked the city government to designate another area to be used as communication command center.

Cabaron said his office already complied with the directive of the two government agencies.

He noted that in view of the pandemic, evacuation centers will only accommodate 50% of its occupancy rate to ensure that proper health protocols are observed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Cabaron said the city government has beefed up its preparedness measures, starting with the vulnerability assessment of critical infrastructure, sustained information drive, institutionalizing an Emergency Operations Center that harmonizes the different efforts made by agencies related to disaster response and establishment of local flood warning system.

“The PAGASA announced last June 4 na naa na ta sa onset of the rainy season and that’s why we need to elevate our preparedness, including sa atoa kada individual or kining mga pamilya (each one of us and our families),” Cabaron said.

Additional COVID-19 isolation facilities 

Negros Oriental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Adrian Sedillo said that there is an ongoing collaboration between the national and the provincial governments in terms of establishing additional quarantine and isolation facilities for COVID-19 patients.

“Yes, naa may mga move karon na adunay ipambutang na facilities sa ubang area sa Negros Oriental. I heard that sa Guihulngan dunay ipahimutang ug ang Bayawan (Yes, there is a move to put up additional facilities in other areas in Negros Oriental. I heard that one will be established in Guihulngan City and Bayawan City),” Sedillo said.

He added that the Guihulngan City District Hospital is a beneficiary of an isolation facility funded by the Department of Health, while another isolation facility funded by the Office of Civil Defense is set to be constructed in the city.

A similar project is also planned to be built in Bayawan City.

Currently, the provincial government has three isolation facilities for COVID-19 patients, one  inside the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital that can accommodate 33 persons with moderate and severe cases, the tent city at the PGSO compound for mild and asymptomatic patients, and the Macias Sports Center which is an alternative isolation facility. (RAL/PIA7 Negros Oriental)