FILE PHOTO: A resident in Ilocos Sur’s capital city of Vigan gets tested for COVID-19. | PHOTO: Vigan city government
LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — The Department of Health (DOH) in the Ilocos region reported on Monday (May 2) that only one case of severe and critical COVID-19 was admitted to a local health facility.
The DOH also said there were no new severe and critical cases recorded between April 24 and 30.
According to the health department, “severe and critical cases and hospital admissions are not increasing, [and] that is what’s important” after provinces in the Ilocos region had reported an increase in COVID-19 cases over the previous week.
Non-ICU (intensive care unit) bed utilization in hospitals remained at a safe level, with 11 percent of 171 out of 1,536 beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients used as of April 30.
ICU bed utilization was at 18 percent, or 40 out of 226 beds in use.
Last week, at least 20 new COVID-19 cases were added by the DOH to its COVID-19 tally. This translated to an average daily case of three or 31-percent lower than the cases logged between April 17 to 23.
At least 83 percent of the target population of over 4.3 million residents in the region had already been fully vaccinated. Some 740,500 of them have already received their COVID-19 booster shots.
In Ilocos Norte, the DOH lauded healthcare workers for being able to push for the highest rate of COVID-19 vaccination coverage for senior citizens in the Philippines.
Local records showed that Ilocos Norte had vaccinated 100 percent of the target population of senior citizens, or at least 68,237 elderlies had completed their vaccinations.
The province was focusing on administering booster shots against the coronavirus, with the provincial government noting that it was able to administer vaccines to 30 percent of the total target of over 430,000 people. INQ
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