The Department of Health (DOH) is currently keeping a close eye on six areas in Metro Manila because of increasing Covid-19 hospital admissions.
These areas are Pasig, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Makati, Navotas, and Caloocan City, said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Thursday, Sept. 29.
“Pag tiningnan natin (When we look at it), we are seeing an increase in their admissions, especially in their Covid-19 wards,” said Vergeire.
“Atin na pong tinitingnan yung mga pasyenteng naka admit kung maaari nating ilipat sa ating isolation facilities–yung mga mild at asymptomatic (We are now looking at the admitted patients to see if we can transfer those who are mild and asymptomatic to our isolation facilities),” she added.
Vergeire noted that some patients who are admitted in hospitals are healthcare workers.
“Marami sa mga ospital natin when we met them, ang isa sa kanilang issue would be our healthcare workers na na-aadmit nila dahil may comorbidity pero usually asymptomatic at mild, dahil gusto nilang bantayan (When we met some of the hospitals, one of their issues would be the admitted healthcare workers because they have comorbidities. But usually, they are asymptomatic or mild and they want to keep an eye on them),” she said.
“Binigyan natin sila ng option kung saan nila pwedeng ilipat para hindi na makadagdag doon sa naka admit sa ospital at makapag-accommodate pa tayo ng mas maraming pasyente (We gave them an option on where they can transfer them in order to accommodate more patients),” she added.
There is no need to open up more isolation facilities as of this time, said Vergeire.
“We are using the existing facilities for these individuals na pwede na natin ilipat palabas ng mga ospital,” she said.
“Currently, we still have retained several isolation facilities in our local governments tapos meron tayong ka-kontrata pa rin na hotel, especially for our healthcare workers na nagkakasakit (and we still have a contract with some hotels, especially for our healthcare workers who get sick),” she added.
Moderate risk
Metro Manila is currently under the moderate risk case classification for Covid-19, said Vergeire.
“Nakikitaan natin ang National Capital Region na patuloy ang pagtaas ng kaso although hindi pa siya doon sa significant level. Pero nakikita na natin 13 out of the 17 areas in the National Capital Region ay pumalo na sa moderate risk classification (We are seeing that cases in the National Capital Region continue to increase although it is not yet at a significant level. But we can see that 13 out of the 17 areas in the National Capital Region have hit the moderate risk classification),” said Vergeire.
“Ang areas na hindi pa moderate (The areas that are not yet under the moderate classification) would be Malabon, Navotas, Caloocan, and Valenzuela. But the rest would be in moderate risk case classification,” she added.
Factors
Vergeire reminded the public that there are several factors that contribute to the increasing number of cases. She made this statement when asked if the mandatory wearing of face masks will be reimposed given the current situation.
“The cases are expected to increase. It is not just because of the masking policy outdoors, but also because of the mobility of the population, and the opening up of other sectors,” she said.
“Now, we all need to change our mindset and we all need to remember and be informed that the virus will continue to stay with us, that we will need to live with the virus,” she added.
Vergeire said that there are several factors that should be considered before recommending to the President and to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to reimpose the mandatory wearing of face masks in outdoor settings.
“Kung sakali na dadating tayo sa punto na magrerekomenda tayo kung ibabalik ba yung mask outdoors o hindi, tayo po ay magpapatupad (If we ever get to the point where we will recommend whether to reimpose or not the face mask wearing outdoors, we will implement it) as one nation. It is going to be the entire population and the entire regions of the country,” she said.
“As I've said before, we cannot have an island within a group of islands. We cannot have an implementation in one area, then the rest will be different because we know that the virus crosses borders,” she added.