Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 21) — Private and public hospitals are urged to increase their dedicated beds for COVID-19 patients in response to the surge of infections in the country, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Citing the latest resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Roque said that 30% and 50% of beds in private and public hospitals, respectively, must be allocated for COVID-19 patients.
He stressed that only those with serious symptoms must be admitted to hospitals, adding that those with mild to moderate symptoms should be referred instead to temporary treatment and monitoring facilities.
Roque said hospitals should increase their dedicated beds for COVID-19 patients as soon as possible. As of March 20, the nationwide bed occupancy rate is 39.7%.
At least 29 hospitals in Metro Manila have reached “critical” level in terms of bed occupancy. This means that more than 85% of their bed capacity were already occupied.
The OCTA Research group projected Saturday that intensive care units of hospitals in Metro Manila may reach 100% capacity in the first week of April.
The country logged more than 7,000 new COVID-19 cases for the third straight day. The total number of cases is now at 663,794.
