Iloilo City is preparing for a possible surge of Delta variant cases of coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, in the city.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the Iloilo City government is planning to use St. Therese-MTCC Hospital (STMH) as a functioning Level 1 Hospital to address the high healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) in the city because of COVID-19 pandemic.
The STMH, which formerly operated as tertiary hospital, was lent for free to the city government as a quarantine facility for mild to moderate cases since last year when the pandemic broke out.
“We are asking the Department of Health (DOH) for the approval of this proposal. We have to move fast because the virus, especially the Delta variant, is also swift in infecting people and claiming lives,” said Treñas.
Currently, the city logged one positive case of Delta variant. The 30-year old male is from Mandurriao district.
The STMH isolation facility currently houses five positive close contacts of this Delta variant case, along with 13 other COVID-positive patients.
All are considered “manageable cases,” according to Quarantine Facility Manager Gabriel Felix Umadhay.
Treñas has already instructed Umadhay to prepare the STMH for the Delta variant cases, and have 50 beds ready for such patients.
Iloilo City COVID-19 focal person, Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, said turning STMH into a Level 1 Hospital would mean it can admit moderate cases, but clarifies it has no intensive care unit capability.
“This is just so we can augment the hospitals here that have overflowing capacities due to the surge in cases,” he added.
As of August 4, the city has a total HCUR of 82.50% or “high risk” classification based on the health system monitoring capacity of the DOH.
Both COVID wards at 88.54% and ICU beds at 90.37% are in “critical,” while mechanical ventilation for COVID is at 65.85% or “moderate” classification.
Earlier, the Iloilo City COVID Team presented its COVID-19 Delta Variant Outbreak Response Plan 2021 when the situation gets worse.
As part of the preparations, they formulated outbreak or surge scenarios – the bad, worse and the worst. (Glenda Tayona)/WDJ