Testing czar Vince Dizon on Tuesday said the bed capacity for COVID-19 cases per hospital must be expanded.
In an interview with DZBB, Dizon said hospitals only allocate 30 percent of its intensive care unit (ICU) beds for COVID-19 cases.
“Tumataas po talaga ang hospital utlization so kailagan po tayong mag-expand. Kailangan pang pataasin ito at kailangan po tulungan natin ang ating mga hospital na ma-manage ang mga kaso ng COVID-19 (Our hospital utilization is increasing that’s why, we need to expand. We need to increase and we need to help the hospitals manage the COVID-19 cases),” Dizon said.
Dizon said a referral system is already being implemented in hospitals which have reached full capacity.
“Ang mangyayari, yung mga hospitals na napuno na, pwede sila mag-refer doon sa mga hospitals na di pa puno masyado (Hospitals which are already full can refer COVID-19 patients seeking admission to other hospitals which can accomodate them),” Dizon said.
Several hospitals in Metro Manila have already reached full capacity this week including St. Luke’s Medical Center, The Medical City, Makati Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.
The Palace had said the country has sufficient hospital beds for COVID-19 patients.
“Overall, sapat-sapat naman po ang ating mga hospital beds kasama na na po diyan iyong ating mga ICU beds (Overall, our hospital beds, including our ICU beds are sufficient),” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Read more: PH has sufficient hospital beds for all COVID-19 patients –Palace