DOH sees less congestion at hospitals after Aug 4-18 MECQ

The Department of Health on Friday said it observed an improvement in the bed occupancy rate in hospitals in Metro Manila.

In Sandra Aguinaldo’s report on “24 Oras,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said hospitals in the capital region were decongesting “gradually” after the modified enhanced community quarantine was imposed from August 4 to 18.

“Gradual, nakikita natin nade-decongest ‘yong mga ospital. From naghi-hit tayo bago tayo mag-MECQ ng mga 86, 81 percent sa occupancy rate sa National Capital Region. Ngayon naman, napapababa natin ng kaunti. Nasa 76 percent tayo, although much is still one thing,” she said.

“As the days go by, as we do our analysis, makikita natin ‘yong unti-unting epekto nitong dalawang linggong ibinigay sa atin for MECQ,” Vergeire added.

Earlier, experts from the University of the Philippines projected that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country may rise up to 375,000 by the end of September.

In their August 27 forecast report, the UP-OCTA research team said the projected total number of cases was 330,000 for a "lower" estimate, 350,000 for "median," and 375,000 for "upper."

The researchers reported that the reproduction number of COVID-19 and the number of new cases per day have both decreased near the end of August.

“We still have a lot of new cases. Mas marami pa kaysa noong end of May. We have to be cautious kasi hindi naman ibig sabihin nito na irreversible ‘yong trend. Puwede naman tayong mag-surge kung magpabaya tayo,” Dr. Guido David said. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News