Ilocos Norte placed under COVID-19 ‘alert level 4’

Health workers in Ilocos Norte conduct an aggressive contact tracing and testing to curb the spread of COVID-19. (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)

LAOAG CITY— The Department of Health (DOH) placed Ilocos Norte under alert level 4, the highest COVID-19 alert classification system in the country as active cases neared the 4,000 mark in the province.

On Friday, 232 new infections were added to the province’s tally, with 324 new recoveries and 14 deaths, according to the data from the provincial government.

Ilocos Norte was the only province in the Ilocos region to have been placed under the highest alert level, including 36 other areas across the country, the DOH said.

Areas placed under alert level 4 have their hospital beds dedicated for COVID-19 occupied to more than 70 percent, according to DOH.

While Ilocos Norte is under alert level 4, there is an “urgent need” to increase hospital beds, ensure availability of oxygen tanks, and that severe and critical COVID-19 cases must be immediately and properly referred.

The Ilocos Norte provincial capitol in Laoag City  (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)

Ilocos Norte’s health care capacity issues must not only be addressed by the local government alone, but should also involve regional and national response, the DOH said.

The COVID-19 bed occupancy rates among health facilities in Ilocos Norte have reached 81.9 percent, wherein 217 of the 265 beds have already been occupied, latest data from the DOH’s COVID-19 tracker showed.

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