Mayor raises alarm as COVID-19 situation in Roxas City turns ‘critical’
Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas is appealing to residents to follow health protocols after the COVID-19 situation in the capital city of Capiz province reached a critical level due to a recent surge in cases.
Dadivas said Roxas’ positivity rate, or the percentage of coronavirus tests returned with positive results, had exceeded Metro Manila’s 8 percent. From June 5 to June 14, the daily positivity rate in the city ranged from 25.93 percent to 45.59 percent. Dadivas said an average of 35 new cases were recorded daily and deaths due to the disease had also increased to 28 from May to June 15.
‘Pitiful’
“Those who died are not only elderly but also younger residents,” he said.
Doctors, nurses and other medical front-liners, he said, were struggling to cope with the influx of COVID-19 patients.
“The situation of patients who are in critical condition are pitiful because they could hardly be accommodated due to lack of beds, medical equipment and medicines,” Dadivas said.
Roxas has reverted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until June 30 due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and high positivity rate.
Roxas was placed on MECQ from June 1 to June 16 but the two-week implementation was not enough to lower the number of cases.
The management of Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital (RMPH) last month said it was already “bursting at the seams” due to the surge in cases.
Bed capacity exhausted
District hospitals have also exhausted their bed capacity threatening to overwhelm their staff.
“Despite having increased COVID-19 bed capacity, all our facilities are full and more are waiting in line to be admitted. Worse, more and more patients are experiencing severe symptoms of COVID-19 infection and need immediate care and attention,” RMPH said in a statement on June 14.
“Our resources are depleted, our personnel are exhausted and our facilities cannot take much more. We urgently appeal to everyone to please exercise all the necessary precautions against COVID-19,” it said.
