LIST: 28 state universities, colleges used as quarantine facilities

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in the country, a number of state universities and colleges (SUCs) have offered to be temporary quarantine centers of the probable and suspected cases of the disease.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that since the imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in mid-March, the government coronavirus task force required local government units to sign agreements with SUCs which want to set up quarantine facilities in their areas.

In March, CHED formed a Public Health Experts Group (PHEG) in a bid to ensure that LGUs and SUCs would comply with standards in using school facilities as quarantine centers or community isolation units.

CHED said that a total of 28 SUCs have been transformed into quarantine facilities for some 17,000 individuals. It also said that the use of quarantine facilities has become more critical as locally stranded individuals (LSIs) continue to go home to their provinces and need to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

“As these HEIs (higher education institutions) open their doors and allow the utilization of the facilities for a very noble cause, it is a strong statement and manifestation of our bayanihan spirit that we are actively joining the fight against this invisible and deadly enemy and we will continue to do so until we contain the same,” said CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III.

Asked how the conversion of buildings would affect work of school personnel, CHED said that not the whole school compounds would be turned into a quarantine facility, only the isolated buildings.

“SUC quarantine facility is not the whole SUC. Usually, selected areas lang na puwede mag-isolate (that are isolate). Before they open for use for school operations, it has to be disinfected thoroughly,” said CHED.

Some classes in colleges and universities are expected to start this month, using flexible learning mode.