The local government of Manila stressed that it will continue to provide free medical assistance to those who will be infected by Covid-19 amid the dismantling of the Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital.

However, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said that arriving overseas Filipino workers should coordinate with the Bureau of Quarantine if and when they test positive for Covid-19, saying the city of Manila no longer has a Covid-19 hospital to offer.

To recall, Lacuna said that the use of the Burnham Green in front of the Quirino Grandstand as a site for the field hospital has not been extended by the National Parks Development Committee.

She stressed that before it ceased operations on 31 October, the Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital actually accommodated mostly non-Manilans and OFWs who get infected with the deadly respiratory disease.

Despite the joint request by the local government, the Department of Health, the OCTA Research Group and other health experts for an extension, the NPDC had turned it down.

The mobile hospital — built with container vans — was used solely for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients or those with mild symptoms at the height of the pandemic.

The mayor, meanwhile, allayed fears of Manilans who think they would no longer have a hospital that would take care of them if they get infected with Covid-19, stressing that ample staff and facilities have been put in a quarantine facility to cater to asymptomatic and mild cases.

She said that the staff and equipment of the field hospital have been distributed to the various city-run hospitals while the container vans may be used for other purposes that will still be beneficial to the city.