There has been a spike in the number of patients at the two COVID-19 designated hospitals in Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Tuesday, September 7.
The Valladolid District Hospital is fully occupied and the Cadiz District Hospital is 80 percent full, he said.
“We have to worry about it because it has never reached this point where the hospitals are filling up,” he said.
Diaz said before there were a lot of people in quarantine facilities, but not in the hospitals.
“That means the symptoms before were mild to moderate, now they are moderate to severe…It’s really cause for alarm,” he said.
Negros Occidental is facing a COVID-19 surge, Diaz said, pointing out that, from about 600 active cases two weeks ago, the province had 1,284 active cases on Tuesday.
He believes the increase in COVID-19 cases is being caused by the highly contagious Delta variant, which is being transmitted locally.
The problem is the variant results are released by the Philippine Genome Center a month late, he said.
One Capitol employee who tested positive for COVID-19 is a biker, he said.
Diaz reminded the public to keep their distancing even during outside activities.
MORE COVID BEDS
The Valladolid District Hospital has a COVID-19 bed capacity of 35 and the Cadiz District Hospital can take in 80 patients, he said.
The fifth floor of the Cadiz District Hospital will be reopened to accommodate 80 more patients, Diaz said.
The provincial government is also rushing the completion of the annex building at the Teresina L Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City that will open up another 70 COVID-19 beds, he said.
We are assured that its construction will be completed this month, Diaz said.
Negros Occidental’s quarantine facilities are also filling up.
OXYGEN
Oxygen demand in also rising, he said.
Aside from the oxygen produced at the provincial government plant, the provincial has ordered P5 million in oxygen from its suppliers, Diaz said.*