Fifty COVID-positive overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now staying at the We Heal As One Center-New Clark City government building in Capas, Tarlac.
The OFWs were transported to New Clark City Thursday night, May 7, through the cooperation of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 led by Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr.
Two residents of Tarlac province were also sent to the same facility on Thursday.
The National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) in New Clark City currently has 688 cubicles but the facility can still be expanded to accommodate up to 1,000 patients. It is manned by medical staff hired by BCDA and CDC under the supervision of DOH.
The NGAC is one of the We Heal As One Centers put up by the government to reduce the community spread of the disease and decongest hospitals. In the quarantine centers, COVID-positive patients are provided with 24/7 medical care, free meals, and free Internet connection.
“The government’s top priority is to save more lives. These We Heal As One Centers will provide our OFWs with the care and treatment they need so they can recover from the disease, while also keeping their families safe by staying in these isolation facilities,” BCDA President and CEO Vince Dizon said.
Dizon is also the deputy chief implementer of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, and the chief coordinator of the Task Force T3 (Test, Trace, Treat).
The other facilities in New Clark City designated to house suspected and probable cases are the Athletes’ Village and the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Polyclinic.