Covid-19 in the Philippines Occupancy of hospital beds in CV for Covid patients hovers at 50%

THE Department of Health (DOH) 7, on Sunday, July 18, 2021, said the utilization rate of beds allocated for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients in hospitals in the region is still within the safe zone.

The DOH 7 said 53.80 percent of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and 43.40 percent of Covid-19 ward beds in level one hospitals in the region are occupied as of July 17, while 61.60 percent of isolation beds in level one hospitals are also occupied.

The DOH, earlier, said that a utilization rate of Covid-19 facilities is considered in a danger zone if it reaches 70 percent and above.

The utilization rate for ICU beds and isolation beds in level 2 hospitals is still at 43.20 percent and 43.90 percent, respectively, but its utilization rate for Covid-19 ward beds is already at 69.90 percent.

For level 3 hospitals, 42.40 percent of the ICU beds are currently in use, zero percent for Covid-19 ward beds and 51.10 percent for isolation beds.

According to the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, “Level 1 hospitals provide emergency care and treatment, general administrative and ancillary services, primary care of prevalent diseases in the locality, and clinical services such as general medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and non-surgical gynecology, and minor surgery. Level 1 hospitals must have, at the minimum, an operating room, a recovery room, maternity facilities, isolation facilities, a clinical laboratory, an imaging facility and a pharmacy, all of which should be licensed by the DOH.

“Level 2 hospitals, on top of the requirements for Level 1, must be departmentalized and should have intensive care units, respiratory therapy services, a tertiary clinical laboratory and a Level 2 imaging facility with mobile X-ray equipment.

“Finally, Level 3 hospitals, in addition to the Level 1 and Level 2 requirements, must also be teaching/training hospitals with accredited residency training programs in the four major specialties: medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology (OB–GYN), and surgery.

Additionally, a Level 3 hospital must have a blood bank, an ambulatory surgery clinic, a dialysis facility, and Level 3 imaging and laboratory facilities.”

The region also has a total of 4,261 beds in 48 quarantine hotels, of which 2,100 are occupied by returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Of this number, 514 ROFs and OFWs tested positive for Covid-19, while 1,586 were tagged as suspect or probables or are still waiting for the result of their RT-PCR test.

After logging 688 new Covid-19 cases, 224 additional recoveries, and one additional reported death in the entire region on July 17, Central Visayas’ active cases stood at 9,044.

Majority, or 3,340, are in Negros Oriental; 2,199 in Bohol; 1,389 in Cebu City; 1,069 in Cebu Province; 575 in Lapu-Lapu City; 433 in Mandaue City; and 39 in Siquijor.(WBS)

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