Two-week ECQ not enough as hospitals still overwhelmed, doctors say

The two-week enhanced community quarantine imposed over Metro Manila and adjacent provinces from March 29 to April 11 was not enough as hospitals are still overwhelmed, doctors said.

According to Joseph Morong’s report on “24 Oras” on Wednesday, St. Luke’s Medical Center chief medical officer Dr. Benjamin Campomanes, Jr. said hospitals are still struggling amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

“We see so many people around. It’s very difficult for everyone. Even the decision of saying that businesses will close, you know, there’s a thin line between saying that and making people work for money because it’s the same. Of course, I’m talking on the side of the medical because we are struggling,” Campomanes said.

Meanwhile, Philippine General Hospital spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said extending the modified ECQ imposed in the National Capital Region Plus beyond April 30 could help decongest critical care facilities.

“Extension of the MECQ, to us, will probably help in further decreasing the transmission, hopefully. And then, less people will get hospitalized,” Del Rosario said.

Based on data from the Department of Health, intensive care units in the country are 84% utilized, while 61% of isolation beds are in use. Ward beds are also at 70% capacity.

Del Rosario said five COVID-19 patients die every day at the PGH for the last three weeks, showing how crowded the facility is amid the health crisis.

Further, the OCTA Research team said hospitals can only be decongested once COVID-19 cases in the country go down.

The research group said the two-week ECQ helped improve the situation in the country as it prevented an upward trajectory.

From April 14 to 20, the research team said the reproduction number in the capital region is at 1.01.

The group said the average number of new cases per day in the capital region is 4,335, an 11% decrease from the previous week.

“We had two weeks of negative growth rate. Positivity rate is down to 22% in the NCR,” the group said.

The country has so far recorded 962,307 COVID-19 cases including 829,608 recoveries and 16,265 deaths.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News