Catholic college hotel becomes Philippine quarantine center
A Philippine diocese has thrown open the doors of a college hotel it owns for use by health authorities to “hopefully ease the burden on hospitals” dealing with a spike in coronavirus patients needing isolation.
Iba Diocese in Pampanga province, north of Manila, says it has agreed to allow authorities to convert rooms of its Columban College Hotel into quarantine rooms for Covid-19 patients.
The diocese said it made the decision because there was a lack of quarantine facilities in the Philippines.
On Aug. 25, the Health Department reported 2,965 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 197,164 with 3,038 deaths.
The department said hospitals were under enormous strain and critical care capacity has almost reached its limit.
“We are opening our doors to the people in order to give accommodation and care for coronavirus patients. We believe that despite the pandemic, we are called to be more generous and charitable to our fellow human beings,” the diocese said in a statement.
The diocese also clarified that only asymptomatic patients would be accommodated in the facility since it lacked medical equipment.
“The hotel is owned by Columban College, a diocesan school. Normally, the rooms are used as simulators for students taking a degree in hotel and restaurant management. We have a five-story building that has 14 rooms that can accommodate around 60 patients. But we can only accommodate asymptomatic patients because we do not have ventilators or other medical equipment,” said the school’s president, Father Raymann Catindig.
He said “care, compassion and love” were the primary considerations as to why the diocese was opening the hotel to Covid patients.
“We are aware that many people here in Pampanga work in Manila. Many of them lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Some cannot even go back to Manila because of quarantine protocols. In short, they are very short in terms of financial resources. If they catch the virus, where will they turn?” Father Catindig told UCA News.
“As the Church of Christ that cares for its people, we are called to open our hearts in these troubled times and be more caring for others, especially those affected by the pandemic.”
The priest also praised Bishop Bartolome Gaspar Santos Jr. of Iba for looking at the project as a “means for mutual participation between the Church and the government in a time of crisis.”
“The college will not only welcome Catholics but will be open to patients belonging to all religions as part of the Church’s social responsibility and in the spirit of fraternity that this Year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous Peoples we are celebrating acknowledges us to uphold,” he added.
