THE two-week coronavirus disease (Covid-19) growth rate of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental is now hitting three-digit figures as of Saturday, January 15, 2022, records from the Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas showed.
Bacolod City registered a 453-percent Covid-19 transmission growth while that of Negros Occidental stood at 962 percent, the DOH reported.
The two-week growth rate, according to DOH, is the percentage increase or decrease of the number of new cases in the last 14 days.
The DOH classified Negros Occidental and the highly urbanized city of Bacolod both under “high risk” classification in terms of Covid-19 transmission.
The average daily attack rate or the number of new cases for the last two weeks per 100,000 population of Bacolod City was at 5.62 percent.
Negros Occidental, on the other hand, had 1.84 percent, the DOH said, adding that the city and province’s positivity rates are nine and five percent, respectively.
Hospital utilization rate of Bacolod City was about 30.87 percent and 38.49 percent for Negros Occidental.
Limit, suspend
With Covid-19 cases continuing to rise, the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City will suspend its Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Department (OB/Gyne OPD) services.
The Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City will also limit the admission at its Department of Pediatrics.
Both hospitals, in separate statements, said their decision were offshoot of continuous spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in Negros Occidental, including its capital Bacolod City.
In an advisory, the TLJPH stated that a significant number of its frontliners either tested positive for the Covid-19 virus or were placed under quarantine for high-risk exposure as a result of the recent spike in cases among its patients and watchers.
"We would like to inform the public that we are temporarily suspending OB/Gyne OPD services and limiting admissions to emergency cases only until further notice,” the advisory said.
“We enjoin the public to please refrain from unnecessary exposure by staying home and observing at least the minimum precaution as cases are beginning to rise in our locality," it added.
The hospital management further said vaccination will continue and told patients and their watchers to follow the scheduled time assigned to them.
The TLJPH does not accept walk-in vaccination clients.
For CLMMRH, the hospital will be limiting its admission to their Department of Pediatrics to “extreme emergency cases only.”
The allocated hospital beds at CLMMRH’s pediatric wards have reached full capacity at the non-Covid area, while the number of its Covid-19 probable cases has increased, the hospital management said.
For transfer of patients from health care facilities outside Bacolod City, the regional hospital advised that they should call the hospital’s Covid-19 hotlines 0917-100-7093 and 701-7865. (With reports from Teresa D. Ellera)