The City Health Services Office here is studying the possibility of temporarily suspending the operation of several isolation facilities to save on costs as coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the city continue to decline.
City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo, in a media interview on Friday, said only 140 out of 939 beds in various isolation centers managed by the city were occupied.
The Department of Health – Cordillera’s Covid-19 bulletin showed that the city had 707 active cases as of February 11, with 72 new infections on the same day.
The city government earlier said most of the cases recorded in Baguio were classified as mild and asymptomatic, not requiring hospital or facility confinement.
It resumed the operation of the facilities in the first week of January after cases started to increase, later found to be due to the more contagious Omicron variant.
In December 2021, the city government temporarily suspended and closed the isolation facilities when the city saw a decrease in cases after almost three months of surge due to the Delta variant that started in September 2021.
Galpo reported that the health care utilization rate of public and private hospitals in the city slid to only 54 percent from a high of at least 90 percent at the height of the surge in January, which placed the city under moderate health risk classification.
She said the Covid-19 situation in the city would likely improve in the coming weeks with more recoveries.
Galpo noted that some personnel in the isolation units have been pulled out to help in the sustained implementation of telemedicine and the home care program so that more patients who are undergoing home quarantine would be given appropriate attention.
Some were tapped to help in the government’s mass vaccination program for the city, she added.
Galpo said the city government would maintain the operation of the 350-bed Baguio City Community Isolation Unit at the former Sto. Nino hospital for patients requiring its services.
Aside from Sto. Nino, the other isolation facilities are in Teachers Camp and several hotels and transient houses that are managed by the city government.
Source: Philippines News Agency
