DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 8 Feb) – One of the temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) of the City Government of Davao suffered structural damage due to the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that shook parts of Mindanao on Sunday.
Mayor Sara Duterte said during her live program over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Monday that an inspection team from the city government has been deployed to make an assessment if this facility remains safe or poses danger to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients who have been isolating there.
“There was inspection done this morning to determine if we need to close this TTMF and transfer the patients to other TTMFs,” she said.
The mayor did not reveal the location of the TTMF. She said that this building was borrowed from another government institution to increase the bed capacity of the local government’s isolation facilities.
But Alfredo Baloran, Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief, reported on Sunday that a TTMF located at the University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UP-Mindanao) in Barangay Mintal suffered minor cracks.
Duterte said should the inspection team recommend to condemn the facility, patients can be accommodated in other TTMFs of the city. She said the damaged 70-bed TTMF houses 42 “active” guests.
The city’s COVID-19 isolation beds totaled 2,310, with 687 occupied and 1,623 available as of Sunday, according to Duterte.
As of February 7, the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Region reported 51 new cases, bringing the total cases to 18,222, with 2,670 active, 14,815 recoveries, and 737 deaths in the region.
Out of the total, Davao City, which reported the highest COVID-19 cases in Mindanao, tallied 12,071 cases, with 1,399 active, 10,099 recoveries, and 573 deaths. Davao de Oro reported 1,008 cases, Davao del Norte with 2,612, Davao del Sur with 1,261, Davao Occidental with 106, and Davao Oriental with 1,064.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported that a magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted parts of Mindanao, five hours after a magnitude 4.8 tremor was felt at 7:28 a.m. with both epicenters somewhere southwest of Magsaysay town in Davao del Sur, most likely in the boundary between Tulunan in North Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
