ILOILO City – Rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are stretching thin the supply of medical oxygen in hospitals here.
“The biggest supplier of oxygen to the hospitals in the city called me that they already have problems with supplies,” said Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Hospitals were consuming “four times the usual (medical oxygen) consumption,” according to the mayor.
In a severe COVID-19 case, the oxygen levels of a patient can get low. To keep the levels at the normal range, medical oxygen is administered.
Hospitals in Iloilo province have a similar concern.
“Manubo subong ang aton supply,” said Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
He will seek intervention from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease and the Department of Health.
“The raw materials are coming from Mindanao and Cebu kag as reported to us indi kita makapagusto sang pasulod diri. Kon wala raw materials, ang supply mo maapektuhan,” said Defensor.
The provincial government runs 12 district hospitals and the Iloilo Provincial Hospital.
In Iloilo City, Treñas sought the assistance of Health undersecretary Leopoldo Vega regarding West Visayas State University Medical Center’s (WVSUMC) oxygen plant.
“It still needs FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval so that it can operate,” he said.
For his part, Defensor said they would also maximize the memorandum of agreement between Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City and WVSUMC for “resource sharing.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers medical oxygen an “essential medicine”. Healthcare professionals use oxygen to treat respiratory illnesses. Oxygen is also essential for surgery and trauma.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated global demand for oxygen and made the delivery of oxygen supplies more urgent than ever, according to WHO.
The need for oxygen has increased to 1.1 million cylinders in low to middle-income countries alone, it revealed.
Last month, the Department of Trade and Industry urged the public not to stock up on medical oxygen, especially if not needed.
Undersecretary Ruth Castelo also said major manufacturers in the country are able to produce around 700 metric tons of medical oxygen a day, which she noted is more than the current consumption nationwide.
However, while there is no issue with the production of the medical oxygen itself, she said it may be a different story for the cylinder tanks or the containers.
According to WHO, there are three medical oxygen sources or production methods:
* air-liquefaction process – Air is frozen so that the oxygen and nitrogen separate and liquid oxygen is formed. Liquid oxygen – which takes up less space than the gas form – is then stored. When needed, it is converted back to a gas.
* Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants – This works by taking ambient air and separating the nitrogen from the oxygen, which is left in gas form. The gas can be used to refill cylinders.
* oxygen concentrators – These are portable, suitcase-sized machines that convert ambient air into oxygen.
ILOILO HOSPITAL BEDS
Meanwhile, the occupancy rate of beds for COVID-19 patients in Iloilo provincial government-run hospitals reached 82.77 percent on Sept. 15.
Based on the data from the Hospital Management Office (HMO) which manages 12 district hospitals and the Iloilo Provincial Hospital, 418 of the 505 dedicated beds for COVID-19 were occupied.
HMO data also showed these three hospitals already exceeded maximum occupancy:
* Federico Roman Tirador Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Barangay Jibolo, Janiuay – 25 COVID beds; 29 utilized (116 percent occupancy rate)
* Dr. Ricardo S. Provido Memorial District Hospital in Barangay Dalid, Calinog – 25 COVID beds; 29 beds utilized (116 percent)
* Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital in Barangay Pungtod, Cabatuan – 45 COVID beds; 50 beds utilized (111.11 percent occupancy rate)
Meanwhile, the province has 719 non-COVID dedicated beds, 46.73 percent of which were occupied.
Overall, there are 813 authorized beds in the capitol-run hospitals but the actual beds being utilized were 1,245.
As of Sept. 14, the province had 28,527 total coronavirus cases – 6,454 active, 21,378 recovered and 695 deaths.
The top 10 local government units with the highest cumulative cases were as follows: Oton – 2,483, Santa Barbara – 1,734, Pavia – 1,711, Passi City – 1,688, Miag-ao – 1,163, Pototan – 1,127, San Joaquin – 1,082, Guimbal – 1,031, Concepcion – 825, and Janiuay – 786./PN