BY NICK GIONGCO
The sprawling Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) in Malate, Manila, remains on high alert and under strict safety protocol even if one handpicked venue has already been cleared of COVID-19 patients.
The Ninoy Aquino Stadium (NAS) is in the final stages of disinfection while the Rizal Memorial Coliseum still houses a few more patients awaiting discharge.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) headquarters, meanwhile, has started operations but not everyone is coming to work on a daily basis.
Liza Ner, who is assigned to handle the affairs of the country’s preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, said that employees come to the office once a week.
“There is a list for a particular day and only those who are on the list on that day will be allowed to get in and work,” said Ner.
As soon as the NAS becomes available, it will accept coronovairus patients anew after the discharge of 123 a few weeks ago.
But the NAS and Rizal Memorial Coliseum, now being ran by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Departments of Local Government ad Health, are only accepting patients with mild symptoms.
Still, the complex is off limits to the public and even PSC staffers and sports officials with no business being in the area in line with the government’s policy of staying indoors while the search for the vaccine rages on.
Holed up at the Philsports in Pasig, PSC chairman Butch Ramirez, meanwhile, is calling the shots via video conference call on a regular basis.
