Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco worries about the possibility of a lack of oxygen supply in their province, which continues to face the increase of COVID-19 cases.
“Nagwo-worry talaga ako,” Cayco said in an interview.
“Kanina, nalaman ko dapat aalis bukas ‘yong isang barko na may lulan na 90 plus na oxygen [tank] pero hindi raw sila makakaalis dahil mayroon tayong [low pressure area],” she added.
Cayco asserted that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in the province, but it is not yet clear if it is due to the Delta variant.
So far, there have been 574 active COVID-19 cases in Batanes after increasing to 68 on Wednesday.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Canceran, medical chief of Batanes General Hospital, although they have their oxygen plant, it cannot produce in bulk due to the recent Typhoon Lannie.
“Hindi namin masyado pinapaandar so ang production ng oxygen per day is nasa 5 tanks,” said Canceran.
Batanes is among the Cagayan Valley region, which overall is also experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases.
But the National Capital Region (NCR), Calabarzon, and Central Luzon still recorded the highest number of new cases.
Meanwhile, the number of new cases in such regions has also dropped compared to before.
Batanes gov fears lack of oxygen supply
For ABS-CBN Data Analytics head Edson Guido, the OCTA Research Group can say that the country could record 10,000 average cases per day this October.
But he also said that testing in the country is declining.
“Ang good news naman ay ‘yung positivity rate ay patuloy ang pagbaba na nakikita natin,” said Guido.
“Kung bumaba ang testing natin, at the same time bumababa ang positivity rate, 2 factors ito na magre-result in lower number of cases. Pero ang gusto sana natin ang testing sana hindi bumaba. Sana ma-retain,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) has already said that they are careful in confirming if the number of cases continues to drop.
They still say that the percentage of occupied beds in hospitals, particularly intensive care unit beds, is high.
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