By Laizelle Joy B. Labajo, NDDU Intern
DAVAO de Oro's hospital and critical care facilities occupancies are dwindling down due to the increasing number of Covid-19 recoveries.
Provincial Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said in a radio interview their province's recoveries outnumbered the current active cases.
The province still remains under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until July 31, 2021.
Uy said they hope that their area will shift to general community quarantine (GCQ) to alleviate the economic burden of his constituents, specifically the business and tourism sector.
"Nag-request mi to (We requested to) re-classify our community quarantine in the next 15 days to GCQ," he said.
Based on the current critical care utilization data, the number of admitted patients had lowered down.
"Luag na kaayo ta sa karon. Sa pagdumala nako sa hospitals nato, nag-downgrade nami sa amoang (Our bed occupancies are currently relaxed. Based on our hospital management, we already downgraded our) 'half-blast freeze operation.' Less than 20 percent nalang ang mga bed capacity namo nga naa pay pasyente nga nanga-Covid (Our bed occupancy is already less than 20 percent with patients still being treated from Covid-19)," Uy said.
The governor said the provincial government had provided assistance to affected workers.
Since Davao de Oro shifted to MECQ on July 1, Uy admitted that they are struggling to cater to severe Covid-19 patients, considering that medicines, including remdesivir, have been scarce in the provincial hospitals.
The provincial government said they are looking for a partner and have a consignment agreement with hospitals for them to have a consistent supply of medicines.
Uy previously said the province in early June 2021 experienced a surge in Covid-19 cases after its hospital wards in Montevista, Laak, Maragusan, and Pantukan were overwhelmed.
He said the surge in cases has a dangerous effect on the province's entire healthcare system.
Meanwhile, he urged the public to continuously abide by the minimum health protocols amid the continuing downtrend of active cases.
He also encouraged them to have themselves vaccinated.
As of July 17, Davao de Oro had a total of 3,946 confirmed Covid-19 cases, wherein 920 were active cases, 2,865 recovered, and 161 succumbed to the virus.
According to the vaccination data from the Department of Health, the province already administered a total of 45,854 individuals for the first dose, and 10,431 for the second dose. (With report from Ralph Lawrence G. Llemit)