OLONGAPO CITY–The COVID-19 bed occupancy status of this city was downgraded to moderate level as its hospitals started to get faster reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results from the city’s newly opened molecular laboratory.
According to the Department of Health on Monday, Sept. 20, the bed occupancy rate of the city went down from around 80 percent to 69 percent in a week’s time.
As of Monday, the four hospitals in the city have 33 vacant out of the 108 beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients.
Health officials said this could be due to the fast turnaround of RT-PCR results from the molecular lab in Barangay Kalaklan, which are released in one day.
Previously, the James L. Gordon Memorial hospital, the city’s main COVID-19 facility, had to wait at least three days for the RT-PCR test results of its patients before they were transferred to appropriate wards for treatment.
Despite this, the utilization rate of the intensive care units of the city remains at 100 percent.