Baguio health care facilities hit critical level

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Health care facilities in this city have reached critical level amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases.

City health officer Rowena Galpo said 246 of the 285 beds allocated for COVID-19 patients in various public and private health facilities have been occupied, representing an occupancy rate of 86.62 percent.

Galpo said isolation beds and intensive care units have 85.92 percent and 81.58 percent occupancy rates, respectively.

She said only three ventilators are available.

Galpo said private hospitals in the city can no longer expand their bed capacity as mandated by the health department due to financial constraints.

She said the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center could accommodate additional admissions, but the city government needs to upgrade the city’s central isolation unit at the former Sto. Niño Hospital.

Galpo said the isolation unit could accommodate mild to moderate cases and serve as a dialysis facility for COVID patients.

The average daily attack rate in the city in the past two weeks was pegged at 15.4 percent while the growth rate was at 11.09 percent.

The city government said it would continue to conduct mass testing and intensify contact tracing to determine the percentage of the population infected with the virus.

Mass graves

Meanwhile, in Cagayan, Gov. Manuel Mamba sought the establishment of mass graves for those who died of COVID-19.

Mamba said public cemeteries are overwhelmed with those who contracted the virus since there are no crematoriums in Cagayan Valley.

He said Cagayan has so far logged 27 deaths due to COVID-19 this month.

Tuguegarao recorded the highest number of fatalities in one day on Thursday, with seven.