DOH: Utilization rate of treatment, monitoring facilities for COVID patients only at 33%

DOH Underseretary Maria Rosario Vergeire presents COVID-19 updates in a virtual media forum on Sept. 6 (Photo courtesy of Department of Health)

MANILA, Philippines — The utilization rate of treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) nationwide is low as many COVID-19 patients opt for home quarantine, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday.

“Ang ating mga TTMFs mababa ang utilization. Kapag tinignan natin across the country, nasa mga 33 percent lang tayo,” Vergeire said during the DOH media forum.

(Our TTMFs have low utilization rate. It’s only around 33 percent.)

“Marami rin kasi sa’ting mga kababayan ngayon are choosing or opting to have a home quarantine instead of going to the facilities,” she added.

(Many of our fellow Filipinos opt for  home quarantine instead of going to the facilities.)

Vergeire, however, said that TTMF utilization rate is higher in Metro Manila.

“May ilang mga TTMFs, especially the mega-TTMFs that we have here in NCR, ito mataas ang utilization, nasa mga more than 70 percent na ang utilization,” Vergeire noted.

(Some TTMFs, especially mega-TTMFs that we have here in the National Capital Region have a high utilization rate of around 70 percent.)

Vergeire also said that around 10 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are either asymptomatic or are experiencing mild symptoms.

The figure dropped from 30 percent  in March and April this year.

On Sunday, the Philippines logged 20,019 new COVID-19 cases, driving the overall case count to 2,080,984.

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