The Department of Health (DOH) has launched the One Hospital Command Policy to prevent congestion and full hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the new policy aims to amend initial guidelines regarding COVID-19 bed capacity of public and private hospitals.
“Papalitan natin ngayon na ang public hospitals, they are mandated na 30% of their bed capacity, dapat allocated for COVID-19. Pag nagsurge, pwedeng mag-increase to 50%. ‘Pag kailangan pa rin, they may increase until 70%. (We will revise [the requiremens] wherein public hospitals are mandated to allocate 30% of their bed capacity for COVID-19. In case of a surge, it may increase to 50%. If the situation requires it, they may increase until 70%.),” Vergeire said.
“Ang private naman, minandate na 20 percent allocated beds for COVID, and then pag nag-surge, additional na 10 percent (Private [hospitals] are mandated to allocate 20% for COVID, with an additional 10% in case of surge),” Vergeire added.
Under the new policy, the network among hospitals and temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMFs) will be improved, resulting in faster referral of mild and asymptomatic cases.
Meanwhile, the latest DOH stats reveal that as of July 22, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 72,269 after 1,594 cases were reported. The recovery count increased to 23,623 while number of fatalities climbed to 1,843. There are currently 46,803 active cases. – Report from Mark Fetalco
