THERE are enough oxygen supplies, mechanical ventilators and hospital beds for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients at present.
But the country could run short of these in case of a surge in severe or critical Covid-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAP) president Dr. Jose Rene de Grano said during a Laging Handa public briefing Monday, July 19, 2021.
"That's because we cannot just expand our intensive care unit (ICU) facilities," he said.
Aside from beefing up the facilities, he said there is also a need to deploy additional medical personnel.
To avert such a crisis, he stressed the need for everyone to strictly comply with the minimum public health standards and get vaccinated against Covid-19.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, who has been designated as treatment czar, said they have asked all tertiary hospitals to update contingency plans to prepare for a possible surge following the detection of the first local Delta variant (B.1.617.2) cases.
Regional DOH offices have also been asked to coordinate with both government and private hospitalts in the area.
"Meron na kaming kaugnayan po on the national front with all the big level 3 hospitals together with the provincial and city hospitals. We are putting in the system of contingency plans for all hospitals," Vega said in a press conference with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr.
In Iloilo Province in Western Visayas, Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said they have increased the capacity of their tertiary hospitals to attend to severe and critical cases of Covid-19.
No Delta variant has been detected in Iloilo City nor in Iloilo Province. But the entire province was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) shortly after the announcement of the first local Delta cases because it is the possible gateway to Antique Province, where two local Delta cases were found, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained in the same press conference.
One of the two local Delta cases from Antique, a 78-year-old female, died on May 30.
Vergeire also explained that both Iloilo City and Iloilo Province were due for an escalation in quarantine classification because their healthcare utilization and ICU utilization rates were nearing critical levels even after four weeks of modified enhanced community quarantine.
She said they found a lot of Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351) variant cases in Iloilo. Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma (P.1) have been designated as variants of concern (VOC) because of their high transmissibility and higher risk of severe disease.
On Friday, July 16, the University of the Philippines Philippine Genome Center announced that it has also detected 264 additional Alpha cases, 299 additional Beta cases and 55 more Theta (P.3) cases aside from the 11 local Delta cases and five additional Delta cases among returning overseas Filipinos.
Read: Philippines detects first local cases of Delta variant
Among the four VOCs, the Delta variant, which originated in India in September 2020, has been tagged as the most worrisome as it is more transmissible than Alpha.
If the original strain could infect two people at once, the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) that emerged in England could infect up to four people and the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than Alpha, could infect up to eight people.
Studies in Singapore also showed that the Delta variant increases the risk of requiring oxygen support. This variant has caused a shortage of hospital beds and oxygen supplies in India and Indonesia.
With the detection of local Delta cases, the DOH has activated the second half of its four-door strategy to combat Covid-19.
The first half, or doors 1 and 2, refers to the imposition of travel bans and restrictions to prevent entry of cases, and to screening, quarantine and testing at ports of entry to contain cases that have entered the country, respectively.
Door 3 mandates all local government units (LGUs) to strengthen the PDITR (prevent, detect, isolate, treat and reintegrate) strategy to prevent further transmission.
Door 4 is the imposition of community quarantines to contain the spread and prevent the health system from becoming overwhelmed. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)