Only 21% of total state hospital beds in NCR are allocated for COVID-19 patients —DOH

Only 21% of total bed capacity in all state hospitals and 10% in private are allocated for COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday as it sought to give a clearer picture on the hospital situation in the National Capital Region amid the pandemic.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire gave this clarification during an interview on GMA News' Unang Balita following reports of hospitals reaching full capacity with regards to COVID-19 patients.

"Kelangan lang klaruhin na pag sinabi natin itong mga occupancy na ito, ito po ay base dun sa mandato na dapat po ay may 30% na allocation sa iyong ospital [dedicated for COVID-19 patients], pero sa ngayon po for example sa NCR, 21% ang allocated for COVID and for the private po it's just 10% pa lang," she said.

"So ito yung sinasabi natin na occupancy based on the number of beds that were allocated," Vergeire added.

Vergeire said the DOH has established a "hospital command," with DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III as head, to strengthen the referral system among hospitals.

"So ang nangyayari po rito meron na tayong strong referral system. We have set up an incident command kung saan dito ibabato ng lahat ng ospital ang mga pasyenteng kelangang i-admit sa ospital," she said.

Based on DOH records as of July 29, 74% of overall ICU beds (515 total beds) and 82% of overall isolation beds (3.3k total beds) were occupied by COVID-19 patients.

The sama data showed that 86% of ward beds (1.6k total beds) and 54% of ventilators (776 total units) were likewise occupied.

Vergeire said the DOH's proposal to increase the number of beds allocated for COVID-19 patients per state hospital be increased from 30% to 50% has been received well.

"Sila ay nakapag-commit. Some of our government hospitals now are at 70% capacity like ang Lung Center po, they already reached their allocation for COVID," she said.

"The other hospitals are following suit."

On Wednesday afternoon, the DOH said the number of Filipinos infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) breached the 85,000 mark,  now at 85,486. cases.

Total recoveries also rose to 26,996 after 388 more patients recovered from the respiratory disease, while the death toll climbed to 1,962 with 16 new fatalities.  — KBK/RSJ, GMA News