THE occupancy rate in public hospitals in Cebu City had reached the critical level status due to high bed utilization rate.
This after the city recorded a total of 660 Covid cases on January 18, 2022 out of the 1,540 individuals who were tested, bringing the total number of infections to 3,822.
City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said 80.87 percent or more than 300 of the 410 beds allocated for Covid patients in four public hospitals in Cebu City were already occupied, while 41.67 percent of the 800 beds allocated in 11 private hospitals in the city have already been utilized by around 320 patients.
Garganera described as moderate risk the overall bed utilization rate of 61.13 percent in public and private hospitals in the city.
The Covid cases on January 18 had a daily positivity rate of 42.86 percent after 600 out of the 1,540 samples taken turned out positive.
Based on the list from the EOC, 20 of those 600 individuals who tested positive were under the 0-10 age bracket, while five under the 91-100 age range.
Cebu City had recorded a daily positivity rate of 40 percent for three consecutive days from January 16 to 18.
As of Wednesday, January 18, the total number of active Covid cases in Cebu City had reached 3,822 from just four in January 1, bringing the total number of infected barangays to 73 out of the 80 barangays.
The barangays that have the most number of Covid cases are barangays Guadalupe with (358), Lahug (226), Apas (193), Capitol Site (150), Tisa (143), Mabolo (142), Talamban (129), Camputhaw (128), Labangon (126), Sambag 2 (107) and Punta Princesa (102).
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama discouraged those individuals with mild symptoms of Covid from going to the hospitals to seek medication, but rather stay at home to ease the congestion in barangay isolation centers and hospitals.