DOH: Hospital occupancy rate down in Metro Manila

The healthcare utilization rate in Metro Manila has gone down after a spike in COVID-19 cases that overwhelmed hospitals in the capital region, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Metro Manila’s healthcare utilization rate has gone down to 48%. This figure refers to the occupancy of intensive care unit (ICU), isolation, and ward beds.

She added that the utilization rate of ICU beds has also decreased to 61% from a high of 88% during the peak of the surge in COVID-19 cases, while the occupancy rate of temporary treatment and monitoring facilities stood at 36%.

Despite this and the loosening of quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila and neighboring areas, Vergeire said local governments and the public must not let their guard down.

“Sa katunayan po, dapat lang po natin lalong paigtingin at paghusayin ang ating pagsunod dito (health protocols) nang sa gayon ay tuluyan na natin pong mapababa ang mga kaso dito sa NCR and the other areas in the country,” she said in a briefing.

(In fact, we should continue adhering to health protocols in order for us to continuously bring down the cases in NCR and the other areas in the country.)

Experts from the OCTA Research group also noted that the average number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila decreased by 27% during May 10 to 16.

However, they also said the average daily attack rate of COVID-19 in the capital region remained high at 10.71 per 100,000 population.

The Philippines has logged 1,143,963 COVID-19 cases with 1,069,868 recoveries and 19,191 deaths as of Sunday afternoon.—AOL, GMA News