Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said the Department of Health (DOH) is preparing for the possible reopening of businesses in Cebu City.
Vega said in a press briefing Thursday said the mortality rates and positivity in the city are increasing as they see a decreasing trend in cases due to enhanced community quarantine implementation.
“Ang aming pine-prepare dito sa Cebu ay ‘yung possibility na mag-open na naman ang economy at kailangan ang health care system dito ay may capacity,” Vega said.
(What we are preparing her in Cebu is the possible reopning of economy and the health care system has a capacity.)
“Dapat sila ay naka-network sa both private and public hospitals para mabigyan ng proper referral ang mga patient na nangangailangan ng medical attention,” he added.
(Both private and public hospitals should be in a network so patients needing medical attention would be given a proper referral.)
According to Vega, DOH met with hospitals in Cebu City to advise them on the standard allocation of hospital beds for COVID-19 cases, which is 20 percent with a 10 percent allowance in case of a surge of patients.
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However, DOH advised Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), which is the biggest referral center for COVID-10 in Cebu City, to allocate more than the standard allocation.
“Aming sinasabi sa administration ng VSMMC ang dapat ay more than 30 percent ang kanilang allocation of beds,” Vega said.
(The VSMMC administration should have more than 30 percent allocation of beds.)
“Ang kanilang strategy ay dapat i-increase to about 50 to 60 percent ang COVID-19 wards nila to accommodate the surge,” he added.
(Their COVID-19 ward should increase to about 50 to 60 percent to accommodate the surge.)
Vega said it is still early to tell if the improvement in Cebu City’s COVID-19 situation would allow the city to transition to a more relaxed quarantine classification like modified ECQ.
The matter would be discussed with the Inter-Agency Task Force, he said.
“Kapag mag-progress ‘yan, magde-decrease lahat ng metrics na nag-i-improve ang Cebu City, iyan ay pag-uusapan sa IATF whether to downgrade Cebu City to GCQ (general community quarantine),” Vega said.
As of July 7, Cebu City recorded a total of 7,015 cases of COVID-19, of which 3,852 are active.