AS COVID-19 cases in Davao City continue to decrease, the City Government has again designated Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) as the lone referral hospital for confirmed patients and has discontinued the allowance of home isolation.
Davao City Acting Mayor Sebastian Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 60 Series of 2021 on October 29, 2021, but was only issued on Tuesday, November 2, which took effect immediately.
“The Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) shall be the only hospital in Davao City to cater to confirmed Covid-19 patients,” the EO states.
Duterte said it is more prudent to designate a single hospital to continue carrying out Covid-19 services for now as the number of confirmed cases in the city decreases and the vaccination and recovery rates are improving.
“Designating a single hospital to cater to Covid-19 confirmed cases will protect healthcare personnel assigned in other hospitals from exposure to workplace-acquired Covid-19,” he said.
He added that designating the government hospital as the sole Covid-19 hospital will allow private hospitals to free up their allotted Covid beds and medical staff for non-Covid cases and sustain their business operations.
EO 60 also provides that all private hospitals in Davao City shall ensure support to SPMC by not admitting confirmed positive Covid-19 patients; reopening their facilities to accommodate confirmed patients in case of a surge, and must prepare for the possibility of being designated as a Covid-19 hospital.
Private hospitals shall be on a decking order and will be properly informed by the City Government and Department of Health (DOH) as to when they shall reopen as a Covid-19 hospital.
EO 60 cited the City Health Office’s daily case bulletin report that there were 2,328 active cases in the city as of October 25, 2021, a huge decrease from the 5,402 active cases as of October 10 and 4,031 active cases as of October 17.
The bulletin also showed an increase in the Covid-19 recovery rate in the city, from 86.4 percent as of October 10 to 92.4 percent as of October 25; the city is currently at 71.77 percent for first doses and 62.19 percent for second doses in its target number of inoculations, as reported by the Covid-19 Task Force on October 25.
Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, meanwhile, announced in a radio interview on Wednesday, November 3, that the city will discontinue the home isolation and that all patients with mild symptoms or asymptomatic will be brought to the city’s temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF).
“Katong mag-Covid-positive (Those who will be Covid-19 positive) starting today, they will be admitted either SPMC for moderate, severe [and] critical cases, or TTMF nato (our TTMF) for asymptomatic to mild cases tungod daghan kaayo tag bakanteng beds (because we already have enough beds),” Schlosser said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
The City Government, in September 2021, allowed home isolation when the city’s Covid-19 hospitals and TTMF experienced an overwhelming capacity.
