CABANATUAN CITY – The mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DATRC), a China-donated facility for drug dependents inside Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, has some 400 beds dedicated for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients.

Dr. Nelson Dancel, DATRC medical chief, said Wednesday the Covid-19 area called Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility (TTMF) is being run by the Bureau of Quarantine.

“Para sa mga Covid positive talaga ‘yun,” Dancel said, referring to the facility where returning overseas Filipinos were quarantined last year.

At present, the TTMF has some 90 patients, including soldiers, he said. While the DATRC is under the Department of Health (DOH), the TTMF has separate staff, he added.

The DOH-3 (Central Luzon), however, can still make referrals for patient confinement.

Meanwhile, Dancel said they are implementing strict health protocols in the rehabilitation facility from basic rules on sanitation to temporary ban on visitation to residents.

Acknowledging the former drug dependents’ need for family support, residents can still talk to their loved ones but only through telephones, he said.

Dancel also said they have set up physical barriers between the residents and counselors. (PNA)