The local government here will be ready to face the new normal once the 76-bed modular hospital, which was constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in this city’s Barangay So-oc in Arevalo district, complies with the additional health requirements.

Mayor Jerry Treñas said he requested that the city be placed under Alert Level 2 as the local government is in the process of complying with the additional requirements of the Department of Health (DOH) for the modular hospital to be issued with a permit to operate.

The City Engineer’s Office, he said, has committed to complete these requirements in one week.

“We will be having 33 initially additional beds for Covid (coronavirus disease 2019) and after two weeks, we will have additional 44 so 77 beds for Covid-19 positive patients,” he said in his message during the city government’s first face-to-face flag-raising ceremony for this year.

The city government has already hired medical personnel with augmentation from the DOH to be supervised by The Medical City Iloilo.

Under the new normal, Treñas said offices, transport, and businesses can already operate at 100-percent capacity.

However, he said the public will continue to wear masks even under the new normal.

Meanwhile, Treñas cited the slow administration of booster shots and pediatric vaccination for 5 to 11 years old.

To ensure higher coverage rate, the city vaccinators will reach out to establishments and sectors that are yet to receive their booster dose.

They will also coordinate with schools so they can gather their learners who are eligible for the vaccination.

“We want them to go back to schools. We want them to get vaccinated so that at the earliest time once Iloilo will be on Alert Level 1, we should already go back to school. That’s the only way to give them protection so that once they go back to school, they already have protection,” he said.

Data from the Regional Vaccination Operations Center (RVOC) showed that the city has a coverage rate of 122.14 percent equivalent to 472,032 eligible population who received their Covid-19 doses on Monday.

However, 118,689 got their booster dose. (PNA)