The city government of Manila will strictly allot its six district hospitals for patients with severe to critical symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and those with comorbidities.
Mild to moderate infections may be dealt with at home if there is proper space for isolation.
As of noon on Tuesday, the Covid-19 beds of Manila’s six hospitals are 42 percent occupied.
A total of 206 beds out of 494 are in use at the Ospital ng Maynila, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Jose Abad Santos General Hospital, Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Tondo, and Sta. Ana Hospital.
On the other hand, the Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital that is also being used by returning Filipinos with mild symptoms has a 72 percent occupancy rate, with 249 out of its 344 beds occupied.
The 12 quarantine facilities are 26-percent occupied while the Tondo High School facility for suspected cases waiting for their swab test results is only 13-percent full.
At the height of the highly transmissible and more contagious Delta variant last year, the Department of Health disallowed home quarantine even for asymptomatic cases to control the spread of the virus.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso clarified that those without a separate area at home for quarantine will be accommodated in quarantine facilities.
“We will reserve our Covid-19 beds for those who have severe to critical infection and those with comorbidities so we can efficiently use our hospitals for those who are sick with cancer, or undergoing operation or dialysis, or those who have given birth to protect them from getting infected,” Domagoso said during a live online briefing on Monday night. (PNA)