The government task force may request a change in community quarantine status for some areas in the country after their hospital beds are nearly full with coronavirus cases.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III reported to President Duterte that the health care utilization rate of Davao de Oro and Baguio City has reached critical level. Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan del Norte, on the other hand, have high utilization rate of their COVID hospital beds.
"Bukas po pag-uusapan ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) ang amin pong monthly recommendation na ibibigay po namin sa inyo, Ginoong Pangulo, for a possible change in community quarantine statuses (The IATF will tackle Tuesday the monthly recommendation that will be given to you Mr. President for a possible change in community quarantine statuses)," Duque said during a meeting with the President and some Cabinet members in Davao City.
"So ang Davao de Oro, Compostela Valley, Baguio City are at critical level health care utilization rate. Ang Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan del Norte are at high level (Davao de Oro, Compostela Valley, Baguio City are at critical level health care utilization. Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan del Norte are at high level)," he said.
Duque said the health department will continue to coordinate with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and concerned local government units to curb the rise in coronavirus cases. He said they will implement the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) strategy that includes the enforcement of minimum public health standards.
The health care utilization rate of dedicated beds and equipment for COVID-19 is among the factors considered by the IATF to determine any escalation or de-escalation of an area's quarantine level.
Based on the DOH tracker, the hospital bed occupancy of Davao de Oro, formerly known as Compostela Valley, has reached 91.2 percent. Of the 91 COVID hospital beds, 83 are occupied. At least 814 cases have been reported in the province.
In Baguio City, 85.9 percent or 213 of the 248 COVID beds are occupied. The summer capital has tallied 4,784 cases with 647 active cases and 79 deaths.
At 49.1 percent or 83 of the 169 COVID hospital beds in Agusan del Norte are being used. The province has recorded 581 cases of coronavirus with 21 deaths.
In Nueva Vizcaya, there have been 781 COVID cases with 23 deaths. So far 38 of the 208 hospital beds are occupied, representing 18.3 percent bed occupancy.
Except for Metro Manila and several areas, the country is under the least restrictive Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) until the end of the month. The areas under GCQ are National Capital Region, Santiago City, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Lanao del Sur, Davao City and Davao del Norte.
The President is expected to decide on the next classification level for the month of February based on the recommendation of the IATF.