BY MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
About 230 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were released Tuesday from the isolation facility at the Philippine Army’s Fort Magsasay in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija after completing a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
The send-off ceremony was witnessed by officials from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 led by chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr.
Galvez cited the vital role of the converted isolation facility in the government’s COVID-19 response efforts.
“Our testing efforts should always go hand-in-hand with isolation and treatment,” he said.
The isolation facility, called Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, was originally built as a drug rehabilitation center inside Fort Magsaysay in 2016.
It was converted into an isolation center with more than 500 beds in July 2020 to cater to mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
A total of 478 beds are allocated for COVID-19 patients while 44 beds are being used by medical staff assigned at the facility.
According to Galvez, patients under quarantine in the facility receive 24/7 medical care, free meals, and free Wi-Fi connection. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
