Authorities, hospitals in provinces told to brace for rise in COVID cases

MANILA, January 22 ------ All regions and local governments have been directed to prepare for an increase in COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health said Friday after more areas were escalated to Alert Level 4.

Public hospitals must increase their COVID-19 bed capacity to 50 percent of their total beds, while private facilities must allot at least 30 percent of beds for virus patients, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said. "Kailangan na rin pong mag-stockpile ng kinakailangang gamot sa pagma-manage ng COVID cases," she told reporters.

Local governments must intensify their PDITR (Prevent, Detect, Isolation, Treat, Reintegration) efforts and ramp up their vaccination, Vergeire added. The effect of high vaccination rate against COVID-19 can be seen in Metro Manila, where majority of cases were asymptomatic to mild, according to Vergeire. "Nakita ho natin kung gaano kadami ang kaso natin it's 4 to 6 times more compared than Delta experience, pero kaibahan ngayon, noong Delta punong-puno ang ospital," she said. "Ngayon po kahit tumaas nang husto ang mga kaso, ang ating ICU (intensive care unit) beds, ang severe at critical ay hindi tumataas."

Vergeire reiterated that further studies are needed to say that the number of virus cases in the capital region was declining. "We don't not look at only the number of cases pag tayo ay nagaanalisa...Bagamat bumababa po ang mga kaso nakikita po nating ubod ng taas ang positivity rate sa NCR (National Capital Region)," she said. "Pag-aralan natin nang mas maigi makita na talagang bumabababa ang trends. Let us not get complacent, pareho pa rin ang dapat ginagawang proteksyon."

Source: news.abs-cbn.com