Partnership with Philippine Red Cross and Quezon City​ ​Local Government Unit (Memo U2021-042)

In response to a continuous spike in the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide, especially here in Metro Manila, Ateneo de Manila University is partnering with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the Quezon City local government to provide an additional isolation facility for COVID-19 patients who are asymptomatic or exhibiting mild symptoms and are unable to isolate safely at home.  The facility is intended to help control the spread of the virus among other family members of COVID-19 positive patients.

The prefabricated building complex of the Ateneo de Manila Junior High School in the Loyola Heights campus has been designated as the isolation center. Only patients that will be referred by the QC LGU and PRC will be the ones admitted to the said facility; it will not admit walk-in patients.

Staff and supplies for the isolation facility will only be able to enter and exit the campus via Gate 2. There will be a PRC shuttle that will take care of transporting to and from the isolation facility. A PRC ambulance will be on stand-by at all times to transport any patient who manifests more serious symptoms to a PRC partner hospital.

Strict health, safety, and security protocols will be enforced, to ensure the safety of the patients, staff, and the people who are residing or working inside the campus. In addition, PRC, which will manage the facility while it is in use as an isolation center, will also implement stringent guidelines and regulations for the well-being of admitted patients and staff.

We are looking at turning over the facility to PRC early next week. At present, personnel from the Campus Facilities and Management Office are vacating the area, and are set to put up a security enclosure to separate the isolation facility area from the rest of the campus.

Working together with the PRC and the Quezon City local government, the Ateneo de Manila community is taking this step to help in any way it can, whoever it can during this critical point in our fight to defeat this pandemic. We call on the community to pray for the success of this endeavor, as this operation will be an important element in ensuring our city can isolate and lead patients towards recovery.