The Department of Education has allowed about 18,000 classrooms in Metro Manila to be converted into isolation and quarantine facilities for individuals infected with coronavirus.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in a press briefing, said her office agreed with the request of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to convert "50 percent" of the classrooms in the National Capital Region.

"This can translate to 17,910 classrooms," she said.

Briones said the number of classrooms could still increase if private schools in the NCR would also agree.

"We are now working out the numbers with the Department of Health to correlate with its capacity, because if there are quarantine centers, there is a need for people from the Department of Health to man and monitor (the classroom facilities)," she said.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in the same press briefing, said the conversion of some public schools into isolation facilities is a "game changer" in the government's effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"I think (this) is a game change because while we intensify our testing, if we are going to discover 5,000 positive (cases) a day, we need places where to isolate them because many of them perhaps have no own rooms and toilets," he said.

Meanwhile, Briones said the opening of classes will push through on August 24.

She said even if there are high cases of COVID-19 in Metro Manila and other nearby provinces, which are still under modified enhanced community quarantine, the opening of classes would not be affected because classes would be held online.

"There is no face-to-face until next year and until the President (Rodrigo Duterte so declares," she said.

As of Thursday morning, the DepEd chief said there were already 23.2 million learners who have enrolled.

"We have already surpassed our targets for 80 percent of last year’s enrollment and also when the economy recovers, we look forward that there will be more enrollment in the private schools as well," she added.

Briones underscored the need also for private schools to open to help teachers who have been displaced.

The DepEd will implement blended learning for the upcoming school year and do away with face-to-face classes to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Under the blended learning, DepEd will use the Internet, television, radio and printed materials in teaching the students. Celerina Monte/DMS