ILOILO City – Local government units (LGUs) in Western Visayas have been advised to prepare temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) as cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge.
Most of the cases are manifesting mild symptoms, thus LGUs should help decongest hospitals by managing them in TTMFs, said Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, medical officer III of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
TTMFs need to have medical doctors and nurses.
“We now average 504 new cases per day. In December 2021 we only had 26 cases per day. We have an abrupt increase. The transmission and positivity rate is high in the provinces,” said Natalaray.
As of Jan. 21, the region recorded 12,238 active cases – 52.09 percent were asymptomatic; 43.12 percent were mild; 2.96 percent were moderate; 1.67 percent were severe; and 0.16 percent critical.
Natalaray said several factors caused the surge:
* decrease in the compliance with minimum public health standards (MPHS)
* mass gatherings during the holidays
* convergence of people in enclosed places and close-contact settings
* the presence of the Delta, Omicron, Alpha, and Beta variants
The reduction of cases, she said, would depend on the implementation of the MPHS by LGUs and the “prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and re-integrate” strategy, particularly the isolation of symptomatic cases.
“With the rising cases, it is important that we go back to our minimum public health standards. For our workplaces, they have to be well-ventilated. Also, practice safe physical distancing since (most) of our cases are in workplaces,” Natalaray said.
She reiterated the importance of immediate isolation for those who experience symptoms, along with getting tested and informing their close contacts to undergo quarantine.
Nonetheless, she said, the healthcare utilization rate of Western Visayas is still at low risk, although Aklan and Iloilo City are at moderate risk.
Currently, 1,244 out of 2,240 hospital beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients are occupied.
She added that public hospitals should allocate at least 50 percent of their beds to COVID-19 patients, and private hospitals, 30 percent of their bed capacity.
In case of home quarantine, some doctors allow telemedicine consultations.
Natalaray added that vaccination is important to prevent severe symptoms or getting hospitalized.
“Since we have (a) high vaccination rate in Western Visayas, we have less cases of severe and critical symptoms compared to previous months, especially during the time (of the) Delta (variant) in August and September 2021 when we (had) more deaths,” she said.
As of Jan. 20, 82.22 percent of the target eligible population based on 2021 data, which is equivalent to 4, 887,618, have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; 72.21 percent or 4,084,827 are fully vaccinated; and 3.18 percent or 177, 237 have been administered booster shots. (PNA)
