Davao City's ICU utilization rate at critical level as new COVID-19 cases rise —OCTA

Experts monitoring the COVID-19 situation in the country said Friday the utilization rate for intensive care units (ICU) dedicated to severe cases in Davao City is at a critical level.

OCTA Research’s latest report showed Davao City has an ICU utilization rate of 91% while its hospital bed utilization rate was 67% (moderate risk).

The city also reported 482 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest since the start of the pandemic in March last year, OCTA said.

Davao had a one-week growth rate of 26% and positivity rate of 14% over an average of 3,000 RT-PCR tests each day. The cities of Tagum, Digos, San Pablo, Cebu, and Baguio also reported a rise in new cases.

According to OCTA, the areas of concern include Davao City, Bacolod, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Butuan, Tacloban, Polomolok in South Cotabato, and Tuguegarao.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte hit the headlines earlier this week after she criticized Vice President Leni Robredo, who expressed alarm in her radio show last Sunday over the number of cases in the city.

The mayor accused Robredo of politicking, and said the vice president should refrain from giving advice “if she knows nothing about what is happening on the ground.”

Robredo's camp denied she injected politics into her statements about the coronavirus situation in Davao, which is under a modified enhanced community quarantine until June 20 unless further extended by the national government. —KBK, GMA News