National Task Force Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Mayor Joy Belmonte, and other hospital officials lead the inauguration and blessing of East Avenue Medical Center-Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases in Quezon City on August 17, 2020. Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has observed an “improvement” in the country’s critical care utilization rate from the last two weeks.
In an online media forum Wednesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there has been a “slow decongestion” in hospitals, including in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the Philippines.
From as high as 81% utilization rate, Vergeire said critical care utilization rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) has gone down to 58% as of September 20.
This follows the improvement seen after the government reimposed a two-week moderate enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the NCR and in other nearby provinces.
The utilization rate has also gone down in areas with high cases of COVID-19, such as in Calabarzon -Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon – (56%), Cebu (35%), and Bulacan (49%), Vergeire noted.
“If you try to look into these numbers, we can see na may gradual, kahit paunti-unti but slowly nagkakaroon tayo ng pagdecongest ng ating sistema. Nagkakaroon tayo ng mas maraming kapasidad para mas maka-accommodate ng mga pasyenteng nangangailangan for COVID-19,” Vergeire told reporters.
“This might not be a drastic improvement na sinasabi nating nakabalik tayo doon sa safe level but at least we are seeing an improvement into our health system,” she added.
The Health official said the improvement is not just because of the continuous increase in the number of recoveries and discharged patients but also due to government initiatives aimed at improving the country’s healthcare system.
The total COVID-19 caseload in the country has reached 291,789 as of Tuesday, including 230,643 recoveries and 5,049 deaths.