73% of COVID-19 cases at Lung Center under critical care

Lung Center of the Philippines. Image from LCP website

MANILA, Philippines — Around 73 percent of COVID-19 patients at the Lung Center of the Philippines are now under critical care, the hospital’s spokesperson said Thursday.

LCP spokesperson Dr. Norberto Francisco said the hospital has 40 beds dedicated to the intensive care unit (ICU), 29 of which are currently occupied with patients who are in critical condition.

“Right now, 73 percent of our COVID cases are critical, nasa ICU. Kasi talagang nire-reserba namin ang Lung Center for critical cases,” Francisco said in a Teleradyo interview.

(Right now, 73 percent of our COVID cases are critical, they are in ICU. We really reserve the Lung Center for critical cases.)

He noted that all of the facility’s COVID-dedicated beds are now 51 percent occupied. Of that 51 percent, 73 percent are ICU cases.

“Pagka nag-surge, 75 percent ng aming COVID dedicated beds (occupied). Pagka-maganda nasa 30 percent lang. Right now, to be exact, ang census namin this morning is at 51 percent,” he explained.

(When there is a surge, 75 percent of our COVID dedicated beds are occupied. If the situation is good, capacity is at 30 percent only. Right now, to be exact, our census this morning is at 51 percent.)

“Yung 51 percent na yun, kung i-break down ko po, yung mga ICU cases there is 73 percent. Ito na yung mga critical. Twenty-nine out of 40 beds. Sa ngayon 40 beds dedicated sa ICU,” he added.

(In that 51 percent, if I break it down, the ICU cases are 71 percent. These are the critical. Twenty-nine out of 40 beds. So now, we have 40 beds dedicated to the ICU.)

Francisco recalled that a surge in March and April led to a 200-percent occupancy rate in the hospital’s emergency rooms, prompting the hospital management to turn away patients.

Francisco noted that it takes one to two weeks before the facility starts to notice changes in its bed occupancy once communities report a rise in cases.

“Dahan dahan po yan eh, there is always a lag. Na-observe po namin, there is around two weeks lag. Pagkatumaas yung ating mga datos sa community, it will take about one to two weeks before we start to feel the change,” he said.

(It moves slowly as there is always a lag. We have observed, there is around two weeks lag. When data in the community increases, it will take about one or two weeks before we start to feel the change.)

With the recent detection of the first local cases of the more transmissible Delta variant hospitals, including the Lung Center, prepare for another spike in cases.

“Of course we are looking at it from all angles because when you say you increase your capacity, you increase everything,” Francisco said.

Aside from increasing the bed capacity, he added that there is a need to increase personnel, gadgets as well as Oxygen and medical equipment.

On Thursday, the Department of Health reported 47,869 active COVID-19 cases out of 1,530,266 total recorded cases in the country. — Faith Yuen Wei Ragasa, Inquirer trainee

EDV