DOH should count COVID-19 cases based on residence for new alert level system —Zamora

The Department of Health (DOH) should tally COVID-19 cases based on the patients' residences and not on the hospitals they are in when determining the alert level of an area, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said on Tuesday.

READ: How the new COVID-19 alert levels and granular lockdowns work

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Zamora pointed out that most of the hospitals in Metro Manila have many patients coming from outside the region.

“Ang aking panawagan kung magta-tag ang DOH, i-tag nila ang patient na ito [My appeal to DOF is to tag patients] based on their place of residence and not based on the address of the hospital,” he said.

Zamora said this would help make clear information to determine the alert level for local government units.

Citing the situation in Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City, Zamora said that only 19 percent of the COVID-19 patients there are residents of the city.

The number of patients who are non-residents of San Juan made the alert level of the city higher.

Metro Manila will be under Alert Level 4 starting September 16, the start of the implementation of granular lockdowns, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the government's new guidelines, areas under Alert Level 4—the second highest alert level in the new scheme—are those with COVID-19 case counts that are high or increasing while total beds and ICU beds are at high utilization rate. — BM, GMA News