Private hospitals in Davao City were forced to open their Covid-19 beds as the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) beds are currently maximized for the Covid-19 cases.
“Admittedly, overwhelmed atong SPMC because mao lang man gud atong public hospital in Davao City that caters to Covid-19 cases,” said Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of Davao City Covid-19 Task Force on Friday.
Private hospitals such as the Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH), San Pedro Hospital (SPH), Brokenshire Hospital, Metro Davao Medical and Research Center (MDMRC) Inc., and the Anda Riverview Medical Center, Inc. are now catering Covid-19 patients.
SPMC issued an advisory dated January 21, 2022, that it will only cater mainly to moderate to critical Covid-19 cases “due to the influx of Covid-19 cases and non-Covid-19 cases will only be urgent and emergent cases.
“We would also like to reiterate that (there will be) no coordinated referrals, no transfer,” it said.
As of January 26, 2022, SPMC’s ICU beds and Covid-19 ward beds have been 100 percent occupied.
In November last year, the city government of Davao designated SPMC as the sole hospital to cater to Covid-19 patients, to free up the other hospitals to treat patients with other illnesses.
Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte also updated Executive Order (EO) No. 60 Series of 2021 added Section 3 on exception, which states, “Any private hospital, on their discretion, may continue to accept Covid-19 patients notwithstanding this Order.
Meanwhile, Schlosser currently the city-managed isolation facilities and Temporary Treatment and Monitoring facilities (TTMFs) continue to cater to Covid-19 cases.
She added that the implementation of home isolation also helped in managing the surge of Covid-19 cases in Davao City.
As of January 27, 2022 active cases in Davao City reached 9,973.
“During kasi sa surge, we are permitted to do home isolation. Yes, duna’y pagpuno sa atong TTMFs but we also allow home isolation for those who meet the requirements,” she said.
On the other hand, based on the Regional Situation Update on Covid-19 in Davao Region as of January 28, 2022, the Department of Health-Davao Center for Health Development reported 1,604 cases of Covid-19 in the region bringing the total number of active cases to 14,976.
Of these 1,604 cases, 901 were from Davao City; 67 from Davao de Oro; 339 from Davao del Norte; 154 from Davao del Sur; 26 from Davao Occidental; and 117 from Davao Oriental while 1,146 recoveries were reported wherein 1,047 were from Davao City; 21 from Davao de Oro; 32 from Davao del Sur; and 46 from Davao Oriental.
