Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Friday authorities would not force mild COVID-19 patients admitted in hospitals to transfer to government-run quarantine facilities.
“Hindi natin pipilitin na lumabas ng ospital ang isang pasyente kung nandun na sila. Patapusin na natin ‘yan kung hanggang 14 days pa sila diyan o hanggang maging asymptomatic sila kung mild sila,” the official said in a virtual forum.
“Ang ginagawa natin ngayon proactive tayo, I mean hindi tayo magre-retroactive, meaning kung sino lang ang mga darating ngayon, ‘yun na ‘yun ipapatupad ang protocol at kailangan sumunod ng mga ospital,” she added.
Vergeire added that most of those mild cases which are admitted at hospitals have co-morbidities, which makes them very vulnerable to the respiratory disease.
“Usually ang mga mild na nandito sa mga ospital , mayroon silang ibang sakit kaya binabantayan talaga sila ng kanilang private practitioners,” she said.
Vergeire noted that government and private hospitals are well-aware of the protocol that critical cases should be prioritized, and mild and asymptomatic patients should not be confined to avoid hospital congestion.
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The Philippines as 14 mega facilities and isolation centers nationwide for asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients, but their occupancy rate has not been fully utilized, said Vergeire.
“Ngayon ang ating mega facilities na mayroon tayo, almost 50% pa lang ang occupancy kaya nga hinihikayat natin ang local government units natin na magkaroon ng network with this temporary monitoring facilities para everytime na they will identify mild and asymptomatic tapos hindi talaga posible ang home quarantine, they can refer directly to these facilities,” she said.
The DOH data showed that 93% or 33,000 COVID-19 active cases are not in the hospitals.
Vergeire, meanwhile, clarified that the surge of cases in the past days could not be solely attributed to allowing home quarantine in previous months.
“There are a lot of factors now kung bakit tumataas ang kaso, hindi lang siya because of one single reason, marami pang ibang factors na puwede,” she said.
DOH reported 2,498 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Thursday, July 16, bringing the tally to 61,266.