Current ICU occupancy rate in NCR 200 times higher than April surge — OCTA fellow

The current utilization rate of intensive care unit beds in Metro Manila is 200 times higher than the recorded occupancy rate in April 2021, when the Philippines recorded a surge of COVID-19 cases, OCTA Research Fellow Dr. Guido David said Tuesday.

David also lamented that usage of hospital beds also reached the utilization of hospital bed capacity during the April 2021 surge.

"In terms of raw numbers, 'yung ICUs na occupied sa Metro Manila, mga 200 times higher than 'yung pinakamataas natin nakita yung March to April, noon April surge," said David over GTV's Balitanghali.

(In terms of raw numbers, occupied ICUs in Metro Manila are already 200 times higher than the utilization rate that we reported during the April surge.)

On paper, David said hospital beds increased but he noted that some doctors on the ground have reported that there is longer waiting time for patients in ICUs and hospital beds.

He added that health workers are already overwhelmed with the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Several hospitals in the metropolis stopped admitting COVID-19 cases  as they were already at full capacity amid the spike of infections.

The Philippines so far logged 22,366 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the country's total tally to 1,976,202. 

As critics hit the government for poor contact tracing and lack of testing, the World Health Organization earlier declared a community transmission of the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant. — Consuelo Marquez/RSJ, GMA News