‘One patient, one room’ scheme eyed in isolation facilities

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – City Administrator Em Ang, executive director and deputy for administration and operations of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF), said they are planning to implement a one-to-one (1:1) patient-to-room accommodation ratio to further contain the spread of COVID-19 here.

Ang said this is in light of the continued decline in the number of cases in the city.

The decrease resulted in the underutilization of two isolation facilities at Luisa Medel National High School and at Bata Elementary School.

Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan, EOC deputy for medical, said that the utilization rate of the isolation facilities in Bacolod public schools only peaked at 15 percent during the first week of November

Data from the EOC-TF showed that of the 576 beds, only 84 were utilized, leaving 492 beds available, or an 85 percent availability rate.

“Meaning, we have a bigger number of facilities reserved, unlike two months ago that we were worried we might not have enough rooms due to the overwhelming number of people who need to be isolated,” said Councilor Renecito Novero, chair of the Quarantine Centers Action Team.

“Let’s be grateful that up to date, the number of people who need isolation keeps reducing,” Novero added.

Ang also said that underutilization may result in the eventual reduction of the isolation facilities.

But the EOC-TF will make sure that all COVID-19 asymptomatic and mild patients would still be accommodated.

The low utilization rate of isolation facilities would allow the City Government to save resources and allow the deployment of healthcare workers to highly utilized isolation facilities to aid in the shifting rotation of the staff, Ang said.