February 11, 2021 AS THE mass Covid-19 vaccination approaches, officials of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) admitted that some of their workers are having reservations about getting the Covid-19 vaccine due to various reasons.
SPMC officer-in-charge Dr. Ricardo Audan said in a press conference right after the Covid-19 vaccination simulation exercise on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, that only 62 percent or an estimated 3,200 out of the 5,000 SPMC workers, both medical and non-medical frontliners, have signed up for the pre-vaccination registration.
He added that these numbers might even decrease during the vaccination day, although he assumes that these workers were willing to volunteer to get vaccinated as they gave their consent in the registration conducted online.
SunStar
File photo by Macky Lim
+ February 07, 2021 A DAVAO City councilor is pushing to penalize heftily violators breaking the city s Covid-19 regulation on mass gatherings, following continuous violations despite an existing policy.
Councilor Mabel Sunga Acosta said in her privilege speech that she is working on an ordinance to strictly implement the established guidelines for the regulation of mass gathering while the pandemic is still ongoing.
Her proposed ordinance was prompted right after a meeting with the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force after it received various violations on mass gathering, despite the existence of Executive Order (EO) No. 57.
EO 57 is an order regulating mass gatherings in the city, which was extended until June 30, 2020, through EO 69. It provides detailed provisions on the regulation of mass gatherings.
January 26, 2021 DUE to the overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases, the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOMPC) in Mati City has temporarily ceased its operations beginning Monday, January 25.
In an advisory posted on the Davao Oriental Provincial Government s Facebook page, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Reden V. Bersaldo said DOMPC s closure will run for a period of 10 to 14 days. During this time, DOPMC will be undergoing massive disinfection, isolation, and risk testing to all remaining employees and contacts, Bersaldo said.
During this period, no new admissions or emergency cases will be catered, the official said.
But he added that all remaining admitted patients will be facilitated and discharged accordingly.
PRIVATE hospitals in Davao City are struggling to cater to critical Covid-19 patients, health officials admitted.
Davao City Covid-19 focal person Dr. Ashley Lopez said in a recent radio interview that despite having the One Hospital Command Center system established in the city, which was established when it shifted back to general community quarantine (GCQ), this had still not addressed the problem on the limited number of Southern Philippines Medical Center s (SPMC s) intensive care unit (ICU) beds designated for Covid-19 patients.
Based on the SPMC s bed capacity data, the hospital had recorded a 100-percent bed occupancy in its 30 alloted ICU beds beginning December 30, 2020, until January 23, 2021. This was a bit decongested on January 8 to 10, and 14.