Covid-19 hospital admission in Soccsksargen decrease : vimar

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -Admission in hospitals catering to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) have eased in the last two weeks as the number of new infections in the area continues to decrease. A report from the Department of Health-Region 12's (DOH-12) epidemiology and surveillance unit (RESU) said the occupancy rate for Covid-19 as of Wednesday is down to the warning level after reaching the danger zone in the past weeks. It said some 774 or about 40 percent of the total 1,837 hospital beds in the region that are dedicated to Covid-19 cases are currently occupied. All 112 Covid-19 referral hospitals in the region's four provinces and four cities, including the Cotabato Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City, have occupancy rates of between 30 to 70 percent. Soccsksargen comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and North Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Kidapawan and Tacurong. For the occupancy rate in temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, DOH-12 said the entire region is still under the safe zone. Only 825 of the total 10,293 isolation beds in 805 facilities are so far occupied, with most of the active patients undergoing home isolation. Dr. Dyan Zubelle Parayao, RESU-12 chief, said the situation is mainly due to the significant decline in new Covid-19 cases detected in the region since late last month. After reaching a single-day record of 898 cases last Sept. 21, she said the new infections abruptly decreased in the succeeding days. "The region is now considered a low-risk area as our two-week growth rate (for Covid-19) has already dropped to 65 percent," she said in a report. The area is also at medium-risk in terms of the daily attack rate, which is currently at 6.13 per 100,000 population, she said. As of Tuesday night, Region 12 posted a total of 3,313 active cases. The confirmed infections since last year have reached 53,660, with 1,857 related deaths and 48,490 recoveries. The provinces of Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato are already under Alert Level 2 as of Oct. 9 while this city, South Cotabato and Sarangani are still under Alert Level 4. (PNA) }