Strengthening health care capacity under MECQ
“With strengthened health care capacity, more severe and critical patients can be admitted to hospitals.
“We aim to increase dedicated Covid-19 beds in isolation, quarantine and health facilities.
I announced last Sunday that starting 12 April until the end of the month, the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, or the NCR Plus, will be under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). This after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) decided on the community quarantine classification in its 10 April 2021 meeting, which was later approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
In addition to the previously announced April 2021 quarantine classification, the province of Abra was escalated to MECQ, also from 12 to 30 April, joining Quirino Province and Santiago City, both of which were placed under MECQ for the month of April.
Meanwhile, the province of Quezon was raised to general community quarantine (GCQ) from 12 to 30 April, joining the following areas that are in GCQ this month: Cordillera Administration Region; Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya in Region 2; Batangas in Region 4-A; Tacloban City in Region 8; Iligan City in Region 10; Davao City in Region 11; and Lanao del Sur in BARMM.
Continuing the gains from the past two weeks of enhanced community quarantine, health care capacity will be further strengthened during the MECQ period, particularly in the NCR Plus. Primarily, we aim to increase dedicated Covid-19 beds in isolation, quarantine and health facilities.
To decongest the big hospitals and make room for more Covid-19 patients who require hospitalization, Level 3 hospitals will have to partner with Level 2 and Level 1 hospitals with temporary treatment and monitoring facilities or with step-down facilities for mild or moderate care or home care, provided that these step-down facilities have the capacity to do adequate quarantine and isolation.
To ensure adequate Covid-19 response in the community level, local government units (LGU) must ensure that there are adequate Covid beds, complementary health human resources, and a well-coordinated triage and referral systems in place in LGU quarantine, isolation and health facilities. LGU are likewise enjoined to prioritize the generation of demand for vaccination of those who belong in the Priority Group A2 and A3 of the national vaccination plan.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Trade and Industry are directed to ascertain the number of employees who may undertake alternative work arrangements and its impact on the maximum carrying capacity of the subject area.
To ensure that every Filipino will have continued access to health care services, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was directed by President Duterte to ensure the continued responsive and timely payment of reimbursement claims for Covid-19.
Because of this directive of the President for PhilHealth to pay hospitals with unpaid Covid-19 claims, many private, national government and LGU hospitals have committed to increase Covid-19 beds allocation, especially ICU beds in the NCR Plus. This projected increase in hospital bed capacities was one of the considerations that the IATF factored in its decision to go for MECQ instead of GCQ for NCR Plus.
As of 11 April 2021, some 104 private and public hospitals in the NCR Plus have so far committed a total of 164 additional ICU beds for critical patients and 1,157 additional Covid-19 regular hospital beds for moderate and severe patients.
Other facilities with additional capacity that are ready for occupancy are the following: Quezon Institute (110 beds), National Center for Mental Health (960 beds), Manila Times College in Subic (300 beds), New Clark City Tarlac (165 additional beds), Eva Macapagal Terminal in Manila (200 beds), and Orion Bataan Port Terminal (100 beds).
All the aforementioned additional bed capacities are in addition to the health care capacities that were added while the ECQ was in effect for two weeks in the NCR Plus, particularly, 164 Covid ICU beds, 2,227 Covid regular beds, and 765 Covid isolation beds — a total of 3,156 beds in the NCR Plus as of 11 April.
With strengthened health care capacity, more severe and critical patients can be admitted to hospitals, more Covid positive individuals with mild to moderate symptoms can be accommodated in isolation facilities, and more close contacts or probable Covid positive individuals can go to quarantine facilities to contain the spread of the virus.
However, the government cannot fight Covid-19 alone. We need everyone’s cooperation. The public has to observe the minimum public health standards and not lower their vigilance against the virus with the rollout of the vaccine. Continue practicing Mask, Hugas, Iwas. And to those who are eligible to avail of the vaccine, get yourself inoculated and be protected so you and your loved ones would be safe. Together, we can heal and recover as one.