The city government here has strengthened its close medical care and monitoring for mild and asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients as it opened Sunday the mega patient care facility at the Cebu City Sports Center.
In an interview on Monday, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, head of the Cebu City Health Department, said the Mega Stay In Facility at the sports center’s badminton court can cater to 160 patients at a time but the capacity can be increased up to 200 beds when the need arises.
He said the new facility will address the lack of isolation beds in this city amid the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama led local officials in the opening ceremony of the facility which was followed by the blessing led by Fr. Aladdin Luzon of the Augustinian community.
“The facility will accommodate patients who are asymptomatic and those who are suffering from mild symptoms of coronavirus disease,” Ibones told the Philippine News Agency.
He said the city will deploy a team of two doctors and eight nurses once the new facility starts receiving patients.
Ibones also said the city will open another patient care facility at the sports complex grandstand’s ground floor if the coronavirus cases will continue to increase in the coming days.
The city health department, he said, will station oxygen and inhalation therapy apparatuses at the facility and will dispense medicine and vitamins to the patients free of charge.
The budget for the equipment is being readied, he said.
The Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas Covid-19 bed utilization report released Sunday night showed two intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Level 1 hospitals in the city are fully occupied, five out of eight ICU beds in Level 2 hospitals are occupied, and 93 out of 115 ICU beds in Level 3 hospitals are also occupied.
For Covid-19 ward beds, 37 out of 41 in Level 1 hospitals, 28 of 31 in Level 2 hospitals, and 48 out of 151 in Level 3 hospitals are occupied.
The city’s Level 1 hospitals are the Cebu City Medical Center and St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital, which have a combined total of 108 isolation beds for coronavirus patients, out of which 69 are occupied.
Level 2 hospitals have 25 out of 29 isolation beds occupied with patients tested positive for Covid-19, while Level 3 hospitals have 362 isolation beds, out of which 263 are already used up.
The DOH-7 bulletin on Sunday showed Cebu City recorded 200 new coronavirus cases, which brought the total active infections here to 3,640, with 138 patients recovered and nine deaths. (PNA)
