Kalinga Covid-19 health facilities note increasing occupancy rate

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Edward Tandingan said that though it is still within the safe zone, available beds may be occupied quickly once a surge of Covid-19 cases occurred considering that some localities had been monitored with High Epidemic Risk Level.

According to Dr. Tandingan, from the 35% occupancy rate on March 1, the bed occupancy of the six temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, five hospitals, and six infirmaries in Kalinga that cater to Covid-19 patients rose to 53% on March 26.

Though it is still considered as a safe zone, Dr. Tandingan noted it is not a reason for people to let their guard down and to be non-compliant of the safety health protocols.

“This is not a reason to relax because the total number of beds available is less than the ideal ratio of beds to Covid-19 patients, and in the event of a surge of Covid-19 cases, the capacity reserve for beds may be used up quickly,” he warned.

Cases and Infection Rates

Dr. Tandingan explained that infection rates and risks vary in the different municipalities and city in the province. This he said may require different level of interventions and compliance with the strict implementation of the minimum public health standards.

Based on data, he said that at the start of March, Balbalan, Tanudan, and Tinglayan were under the low to minimal Epidemic Risk Level (ERL); Pinukpuk, Rizal, and Tabuk City moderate; Lubuagan under high ERL; and Pasil critical.

However, towards the end of March, the Epidemic Risk Level changed with Pinukpuk placed under the low Epidemic Risk Level; Balbalan, Lubuagan, Pasil, and Tinglayan as moderate; Tabuk City and Tanudan went high ERL; and Rizal escalated to critical.

Interventions done by the province

The province has followed the general strategic response to Covid-19 which is the prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration. Other responses applied in the province include the following:

1. Conduct of regular PIATF meetings to review accomplishments and find solutions to issues and concerns arising from operations and implementation.

2. Conduct of Aggressive Community Testing (ACT) in collaboration with the Regional OCD and the DOH CHD for the purpose of active case finding in the City of Tabuk and the Municipalities of Lubuagan and Pasil that were identified to have high infection rates.

3. Continuous implementation of regular case finding, contact tracing, isolation/quarantine, and treatment of active cases by the LGUs with support of the PLGU and other sectors, both public and private.

4. Initiation of the implementation of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Deployment program. With the vaccines provided by the CHD, the Priority Group A1 (health frontliners) master listed by the LGUs and the health facilities (hospitals and primary care facilities) were inoculated with either the Coronavac or AstraZeneca vaccines. Some 1,820 priority A1 health frontliners have been vaccinated as of March 26, 2021.

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