Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government may establish a One Hospital Command Center in other regions as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Command Center was launch in a ceremony in Makati on Wednesday.

"The only objective of this One Hospital Command Center is to facilitate the use of hospitals in Metro Manila and in the next days maybe we will build these one hospital center in other regions," he said.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Command Center was launched by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in a ceremony at the MMDA Gymnasium in Guadalupe, Makati.

Lorenzana said the command center was built to assure the public will be able to find hospitals that can treat them.

"This command center aims to facilitate the hospital and the treatment centers, because what happened in the past few days there were patients that were not accommodated by the hospitals," he said.

"Even us in the task force we received calls that there are sick people crying because they were not able to find a hospital, but when we call we were able to find (hospitals for them). So this center will facilitate or monitor hospital vacancy and availability," he added.

Lorenzana said the command center should be available 24 hours a day.

"It is important that this place is accessible 24 hours a day so patients can call and their needs will be addressed at any time and any days," he said.

Lorenzana said he may deploy military personnel to assist at the command center if needed.

"I wish the head of this one hospital center good luck. If there is a need for additional troops or personnel just tell me, I will send troops here," he said. Robina Asido/DMS