Oxygen supply, hospital beds running low in Cotabato hospital

As cities in Mindanao become areas of concern for COVID-19, a hospital in Cotabato is currently running short on hospital beds as well as oxygen supply.

According to Joseph Morong's "24 Oras report," the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center—where most Soccsksargen residents seek medical treatment— has announced that its COVID-19 wards are reaching capacity after a rise in cases over two weeks.

According to Dr. John Maliga of the CRMC's safety committee, 158 out of the hospital's 178 COVID-19 beds are occupied.

Maliga added that they are handling 34 critical cases of the severe viral ailment, and are continuously ordering oxygen tanks so that the supply won't be depleted.

"A COVID-19 patient can fully use about one tank for one and a half hours only," Maliga explained in Filipino.

"We have reserved 100 tanks and we are expecting 65 more tanks of oxygen tanks but I doubt that we will sustain this if patients keep coming in," he added.

"We don't want to suffer the same fate in India where they are grappling with lack of oxygen," he further pointed out.

According to a GMA News Research analysis of DOH data, 13,118 of the 58,854 active cases as of June 7 are in Mindanao.

Furthermore, based on the DOH's National Health Facility Registry, 69 percent of the hospitals in Mindanao are level 1 centers, with no intensive care units.

Fourteen of the 35 provinces where hospitals are at the critical level are in Mindanao, and nearly half of the region's 293 mechanical ventilators are already in use. 

In an interview, treatment czar Leopoldo Vega said they see problematic areas in Mindanao which only have level 1 and level 2 hospitals.

"They don't have the capacity for adjusting on both resources, human resources and of course equipment," he said.

Vega said the COVID-19 situation in Mindanao could be attributed to areas with less strict modified general community quarantine.

He added that people are "mobile and less compliant" which could cause the increase of virus cases.

The health official, likewise, reminded the public to follow minimum public health standards. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News