BY ADRIAN STEWART CO and GLENDA TAYONA
MANILA – Five areas in Western Visayas are shifting to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Alert Level 2 by Feb. 16 until the end of the month – Negros Occidental, Bacolod City, Aklan, Antique, and Capiz.
Iloilo city and province and the island province of Guimaras, on the other hand, remain under Alert Level 3 until Feb. 28, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, citing the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) yesterday.
The whole Western Visayas was placed under COVID-19 Alert Level 3 at the beginning of the year due to the surge in COVID-19 infections caused by the Omicron variant.
Under Alert Level 2 — the second lowest in the alert level system — certain establishments and activities are allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults (and minors, even if unvaccinated), and 70 percent capacity outdoors.
Under Alert Level 3, on the other hand, several establishments are allowed to operate at 30 percent indoor venue capacity but exclusively for fully vaccinated people, and 50 percent outdoor venue capacity as long as employees are fully vaccinated.
In-person classes, contact sports, fun fairs, perya, and casinos are among the activities and establishments prohibited under Alert Level 3.
OCTA Research Group fellow Guido David wrote on his Twitter account on Monday that Iloilo City remained at high risk due to a high healthcare utilization rate, while Bacolod City is at moderate risk.
ILOILO CITY TO APPEAL
The city government of Iloilo will appeal to the IATF-MEID for a lower alert level, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The city’s COVID-19 cases have been going down for the past two weeks, he pointed out.
“Patients in the hospitals are mostly from outside the city of Iloilo,” Treñas added.
The lower alert level with lesser restrictions, according to the city mayor, would help restart the city’s economy because more businesses would be able to reopen and generate more jobs.
Feb. 13 data from the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 placed Iloilo City’s risk qualification to moderate for registering -66 percent COVID-19 growth rate and 30.91 percent average daily attack rate.
However, the city’s healthcare utilization rate (HCUR) was at a high 61.24 percent.
Based on the DOH-6’s Health System Capacity Monitoring, of the total 635 beds in Iloilo City allotted for COVID-19 cases, 399 were occupied.
The 635 beds were COVID Ward beds (151), Intensive Care Unit or ICU beds (112) and isolation beds (372).
Of the 399 occupied beds, 95 were COVID Ward beds, 59 were ICU beds, and 245 were isolation beds.
DOH-6 data also showed that of the 77 mechanical ventilators for COVID-19 in Iloilo City, 37 were utilized.
As of yesterday, Feb. 14, Iloilo City had 803 active COVID-19 cases, data from DOH-6 showed.
The city’s COVID-19 death toll, on the other hand, was at 658./PN
