DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Three hospitals in Davao Region have been identified by the Department of Health Region 11 to cater Covid-19 patients in case a surge of positive cases will happen to the region.
This was revealed by the DOH 11 during their online press briefing Friday, as their assistant regional director Dr. Lenny Joy Rivera explained that this is part of the “surge capacity plan”, especially that the region continues to see more returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs).
But statistics have shown that most cases of Covid-19 come from local transmissions rather than ROFs and LSIs. A total of 31,365 ROFs and LSI as of September 3 have arrived in Davao Region since the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine, and only 731 persons or 2.3 per cent of them has tested positive for Covid-19.
Doctor Rivera has not revealed which three hospitals are open for Covid-19 treatment, explaining that preparation is still ongoing.
Davao region has two hospitals assigned to treat Covid-19 patients, namely the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City and the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
SPMC has also opened its facilities for Covid-19 patients outside of Davao Region.
Earlier, Davao Doctors Hospital and a private medical laboratory have sought accreditation as testing laboratories for Covid-19.
READ: Davao Doctors eyed as extension for COVID-19 testing labs in Davao
“We are trying our best that the critical cases are only [admitted] in the SPMC. We make sure that 30 percent of the bed capacity will be given for Covid-19. But if that would be exhausted, we have identified hospitals that are also capable of taking and treating these patients,” Rivera said.
DOH-11 data revealed that as of September 1, both SPMC and DRMC still has 62.03% occupancy of its 79 hospital beds for Covid-19 treatment along with half of its 44 intensive unit beds.
For Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, Rivera said the DOH’s treatment and monitoring facilities has utilized only 33.83 percent of its 7,872 available units.
Along with the expansion of the bed capacity, Rivera said that they are also into increasing the number of health workers to achieve the adequate ratio between patients and health workers.
As of September 6, Davao Region has recorded a total of 2,289 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 36 new cases last week, 414 of which are active cases, 1,807 have successfully recovered, and 68 died. (davaotoday.com)
