The City Health Office (CHO) on Thursday said it is looking to convert six more schools into patient care centers due to the rising of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases here.

CHO Acting Head Dr. Ashley Lopez, in a radio interview, said they have finished their assessment of the Mintal Elementary School while five other schools are still subject to assessment.

“As of Monday, we have finished the assessment of Mintal Elementary School and we have five more. We have ongoing expansion for isolation facilities,” he added.

Aside from this, Lopez said the Traveler’s Inn, which has 100 beds, will also open but they are just waiting for the staff who will man the site.

He, meanwhile, also apologized for the delays in the fetching of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive patients as well as for first-generation (F1), second-generation (F2), and third-generation (F3) contacts, who are scheduled for swab testing.

Lopez asked Dabawenyos for patience as they have difficulties extracting Covid-19 positive patients within 24 to 36 hours.

“We are under surge. We have overwhelming cases. While waiting [to be fetched], those who tested positive can just isolate in your own rooms and have somebody deliver your food,” he said.

However, Lopez clarified that it is not their policy to allow home quarantine for positive patients but due to the surge of cases, hastening the extraction of positive patients has been a challenge.

“I’m asking for understanding since the City Government of Davao is doing all our best effort to address our Covid-19 situation,” he added. (PNA)