ASSESSMENT. (From left) Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III accompanies Israeli health experts Adam Segal, Dafna Segol, and Dr. Avraham Ben-Zaken to observe vaccination procedures at the Lakeshore Mega Vaccination Hub in Taguig City on Thursday (June 24, 2021). Taguig Mayor Lino Cayetano (rightmost) toured the guests around the site where 400 were inoculated with Pfizer jabs. (PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.)
MANILA – Areas with surge in Covid-19 cases, particularly in Mindanao, are getting the necessary support from the government, assured Department of Health (DOH) Francisco Duque III said on Thursday.
Apart from the expanded vaccination program, Duque said hospitals in high-risk areas are given mechanical ventilators and high-nasal cannulas (oxygen supply system) to make sure severe and critical symptoms are properly treated.
"We have been providing more support to Mindanao and the provinces and cities which are on a surge so essentially in the area of health service delivery, we are providing more life-saving equipment," Duque said in a media briefing with Israeli health experts in Taguig City.
"We have also instructed our regional offices in Mindanao to ensure that the private hospitals expand their Covid bed capacity from 20 to 30 percent and for the government hospitals from 30 to 50 percent," he added.
The DOH also continues to provide a steady supply of personal protective equipment for health care workers and ensured that the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation will immediately cover hospitals under debit credit mechanisms for accelerated payment of claims filed between March last year and April this year.
Dafna Segol, one of three visiting Israeli health experts, noted that severe cases should be separated from non-critical cases.
She said the hospitals they visited Wednesday were implementing it.
"In Israel, one of the actions we did is similar to what we've seen yesterday when visiting the hospitals. Create more locations and places where non-severe patients could stay, so that other severe cases would be able to attend the hospitals. We've seen a great example for it yesterday at local field hospitals," Segol said. (PNA)
