DOH: ICU occupancy in 4 regions at high risk

By: Cathrine Gonzales - 4 years ago

MANILA, Philippines — The occupancy of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon, Zamboanga Peninsula, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) is currently at high risk, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

However, only Zamboanga Peninsula is at high risk among all these regions if the overall healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) will be considered, Dr. Alethea De Guzman, OIC-Director of the DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau, said in an online media forum.

Data presented by De Guzman showed that as of May 15, the utilization for ICU beds is 71 percent in Cagayan Valley, 73 percent in Calabarzon, 76 percent in Zamboanga Peninsula, and 83 percent in BARMM.

Meanwhile, the overall HCUR, which also covers occupancy in other hospital beds, is 68 percent in Cagayan Valley, 60 percent in Calabarzon, 75 percent in Zamboanga Peninsula, and 31 percent in BARMM.

Nationwide, the overall HCUR is 41 percent while the ICU occupancy is 59 percent.

“These are much lower healthcare utilization rates,” De Guzman said, referring to healthcare utilization in the country as compared to weeks ago, when HCUR in some areas even went up to 78 percent.

The DOH rates HCUR as safe if it is less than 60 percent, moderate if it is 60 percent to below 70 percent, high risk if it is 70 percent to below 85 percent, and critical if it is 85 percent and above.

De Guzman noted two major factors to reduce the HCUR: lower number of COVID-19 cases and allocation of additional beds.

According to De Guzman, Zamboanga Peninsula and BARMM are among the 10 regions in the country that have posed a positive growth rate with increasing average daily attack rate (ADAR) in the past two weeks.

ADAR is the average number of new cases per day over a two-week period, divided by the population of a concerned area. The DOH computes the ADAR based on a 100,000 population. The higher the ADAR, the higher the risk for getting infected.

Below are details on the HCUR and other COVID-19 indicators in all regions in the country based on De Guzman’s presentation:

Data from the Department of Health