THE Davao City Health Office (CHO) said Covid-19 beds at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) are at full utilization due to Covid-19 admissions.
CHO head Dr. Marjorie Culas said on Thursday, April 13 that the SPMC is at near “full capacity” because of an influx of Covid-19 patients admitted at the hospital.
There are currently 234 active cases in Davao City, with 48 cases tallied on April 12. Most of these are mild patients.
Culas said the positivity rate is at 10.1 percent, which is higher than the accepted rate of five percent.
“What’s burdening us is the influx of patients at the hospitals since there is a mandatory testing for hospital admission. So most of our cases are coincidental... Expect na mag taas ang bed utilization sa SPMC,” Culas said in a press conference.
She added that Davao Doctors Hospital still allocate Covid-19 beds but some private hospitals transfer their Covid-19 patients to SPMC.
However, in an interview with SunStar Davao on April 13, SPMC chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said there are still a few available Covid-19 beds as of Thursday. Of the total 275 Covid-19 beds, 38 out of 66 ICU beds and 158 out of 209 isolation ward beds are used.
“For a while, naging consistent ang increase but bumababa rin siya (it also decreased),” Audan said, referring to the fluctuating Covid-19 situation at SPMC.
In a separate press conference on April 11, the Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH-Davao) also said that the high bed utilization seems higher because there are fewer beds now that have been assigned to Covid-19 patients compared to when the pandemic was at its peak. Since the drop in Covid-19 cases, some beds have been reassigned for non-Covid cases.
But with the recently-concluded public events, the health sector is expecting an increase in cases in the next two weeks.
Audan added that they anticipate nearing full capacity but they are also trying to allocate more beds.
“We are anticipating baka nga mapuno (it will be full), that’s why we reclaimed more wards, 25 additional beds for Covid-19 pero so far hindi naman napuno (it has not reached full capacity). Mga doctors na non-Covid (Non-Covid doctors), we also recalled them,” he said.
In addition, Culas said they are in the process of expanding the bed allocation at partner hospitals. She added the Department of Health is also mandating hospitals to allocate Covid-19 beds. ICM