EAMC bed utilization for critical Covid-19 patients now reaching 95%

National Task Force Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Mayor Joy Belmonte and other hospital officials inaugurated the East Avenue Medical Center-Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases in Quezon City on August 17, 2020, for Covid patients. INQUIRER file photo / Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The utilization of hospital beds for critical Covid-19 patients at the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) in Quezon City is already at 95 percent, the hospital’s medical chief said Tuesday.

Dr. Alfonso Nuñez said the 95 percent utilization for critical patients is considered a “red level.”

“‘Yung aming mga [Our] critical beds are at 95 percent occupancy, and that means we have to develop strategies to add more critical beds so we can address the critical and severe cases of Covid-19. We want to be one step ahead of everything,” he said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

“The 95 percent is at a red level and we are making strategies to increase our capacity as far as severe and critical cases are concerned,” he added.

According to Nuñez, only four to five beds for critical patients are available at the hospital as of now.

Nuñez said the EAMC has a total of 250 beds for all Covid-19 patients. He added that 77 percent of this is so far occupied.

“We saw this number increase starting from the second half of February. During that time kasi nasa 60 percent kami ng utilization [we were at 60 percent utilization] for Covid beds, but somehow slowly nag-increase ito [this slowly increased] and it went up to around 70 percent in the early days of March and it further went up to 77 percent,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said that beds in Intensive Care Units dedicated to Covid-19 patients are beginning to get filled up in some regions, including Metro Manila, following the increase in coronavirus cases.

“[For] NCR, the latest data that we have [for healthcare utilization] is at 49 percent. However, I think we also need to highlight to everyone that while the number is currently at 49 percent, the ICU beds are already at 65 percent, mechanical ventilators are at 38 percent,” said Dr. Beverly Ho, Concurrent Director IV of the DOH’s Health Promotion Bureau and Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.

Ho said the current ICU utilization for Covid-19 patients in Metro Manila is classified as moderate risk, while national healthcare utilization rate is at 35 percent classified as low risk.

JPV