MANILA, Philippines – The Athletes’ Village in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac is the Philippine government’s designated national quarantine facility for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. 

More than 400 Filipinos to be repatriated from the Japan cruise ship M/V Diamond Princess on Tuesday evening, February 25, will be housed at the Athletes’ Village, which was previously used by athletes who had competed in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games hosted by the Philippines last December. (READ: PH coronavirus watch: Suspected cases per region, as of February 25, 2020)

Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said each repatriate will be given one room in the building, but passengers and crew members with family members will be asked to stay in one room. 

Photos sent by the DOH showed each room has at least one bed, a television, a small refrigerator, an electric kettle, and some food and non-medical supplies.

Each room has its own bathroom too.

Just outside the Athletes’ Village, the DOH put up a donning and doffing area for the personal protective equipment (PPE) of government health workers who will man the quarantine facility.

DOH personnel have also briefed the medical teams about the the proper precautionary measures they need to observe during their shifts, including the proper way to put on and take off their PPE. 

The same quarantine facility was used for the first batch of 49 Filipino repatriates, 30 of whom were overseas Filipino workers based in Hubei, China – the epicenter of the 2019-nCoV outbreak that has so far killed 2,563 people in that province alone. The other 10 quarantined Filipinos were part of the government’s repatriation team plus 6 flight crew members and 3 ground crew members. 

All 49 Filipinos were discharged on February 22, the end of their 14-day quarantine period, after showing no signs and symptoms of COVID-19 or the disease caused by 2019-nCoV.  

As of  7:30 pm on Tuesday, the Philippines has recorded 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19, all of them Chinese. One died, while the other two recovered. 

The DOH has also probed 610 patients in the Philippines for possible infection. Of this number, only 98 remain admitted in heath facilities nationwide, while 509 have been discharged. – Rappler.com