DOH: Health system capacity 'paramount' in deciding on next quarantine status for NCR Plus

The capacity of the healthcare system will be of “paramount” importance in the government’s decision on whether to loosen coronavirus-related restrictions in NCR Plus after April, a Department of Health (DOH) official said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the hospital system “is still challenged” by the surge of COVID-19 cases despite the return of NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal) to a stricter quarantine classification.

Vergeire said that while the number of new cases and the seven-day moving average have shown a slight decrease

"'Pag tiningnan nga po natin ‘yung mga ospital natin, hindi pa rin po masyadong nagbabago although nakapag-expand tayo nang kaunti for the ICU beds kaya medyo bumaba po 'yung utilization natin,” she said in an interview on ANC.

(When we look at our hospitals, the situation has not changed much although we have slightly expanded our ICU beds that's why our utilization rate went down.)

"Kailangan kasi nakaka-manage na 'yung healthcare system natin bago tayo unti-unting magbukas (Our healthcare system needs must be able to manage before we can gradually open up) and this would be paramount in our decision that would be made by IATF by tomorrow," she added.

Vergeire also stressed the need to balance public health and economy.

"Coming from the health perspective, it would always be to the advantage of the health of our citizens that we extend, of course. But when you look at the bigger picture, we look at the other sectors as well and we all know that the economy also impacts health," she said.

The modified enhanced community quarantine over NCR Plus will expire on April 30.  The government’s inter-agency COVID-19 task force will convene on Tuesday to discuss the quarantine classifications for May. —KBK, GMA News