Utilization rate among hospitals ‘manageable’ amid COVID case hike
THE Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPi) said the utilization rate among private hospitals remains “manageable” despite the rise of COVID-19 cases in some regions.
In a televised public briefing, PHAPi president Dr. Jose de Grano noted that admissions in private hospitals are not increasing and individuals belonging to the A1 population (senior citizens) and A3 population (people with comorbidities) are the only ones admitted to hospitals.
“Kung nagpa-positive sila, ina-advise sila ng (If they test positive [for Covid-19], they are advised) admission for monitoring,” he said.
Earlier, the Department of Health reported an increase in Covid-19 infections in the National Capital Region (NCR), Davao, Caraga, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas.
As of April 19, the DOH logged 382 new cases nationwide — 130 cases from the NCR, 25 from Davao del Sur, and 23 from Rizal — bringing the total tally to 4,086,981 with 8,252 active cases.
The country’s positivity rate or number of people testing positive for Covid-19 also increased to 8.5 percent.
The NCR’s positivity rate increased to 8.1 percent as of April 18 from last week’s 6.3 percent.
“Sundin natin ‘yung pagbabakuna ng (Let us get our) second booster against Covid,” de Grano said.
The DOH recently signed the guidelines on the administration of the second booster of Covid-19 vaccines for the general population.
The vaccines to be used as second booster shots are AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer.
As of March 20, a total of 78,443,972 or 100.44 percent of the country’s target population (78,100,578) have been vaccinated against Covid-19, including 8.7 million senior citizens, 10.2 million adolescents, and 5.6 million children.
A total of 23,811,248 or 30.49 percent have received booster shots out of the fully vaccinated population. Philippine News Agency
