By: Raydes Barcia
Legazpi City ––In a span of a week now, the Department of Health in Bicol recorded a spiking case of Covid-19 wherein 601 new cases, the highest recorded this year so far here.
As of January 12, 2022, the health department in Bicol posted 601 new cases of Covid-19 bringing to 49,361 cumulative cases with 2,001 deaths since March 2020 to date. Among the six provinces of Bicol, Camarines Sur has the highest cases with 241; followed by Albay with 136; Camarines Norte, 78; Masbate, 71; Sorsogon, 63; and Catanduanes with 11.
For seven cities of Bicol, Naga has the highest cases with 105, followed by Legazpi with 54; Masbate City, 47, Sorsogon with 28; Iriga, 15; Ligao and Tabaco with 5 cases each.
Following the increasing cases of coronavirus, the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH), announced the temporary closure of the out-patient department (OPD) and to all walk-in and referred patients starting on January 12 until lifted.
“In anticipation of another possible surge of Covid-19 cases due to highly infectious Omicron variant, the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH) will temporarily closure of outpatient department (OPD) and to all walk-in and referred patients starting on January 12, 2022,” the management said.
“All patients seeking OPD consultation are advised to contact the BRTTH Telehealth project for appropriate guidance and counseling on their specific health related concerns. Patients are also encouraged to consult in other government health facilities,” it said.
The emergency room, however, will remain open 24/7 and will cater only to emergency consultation and admissions according to the management.
The BRTTH is one of the three referral government hospitals for Covid-19 in Bicol region. Dr. Eric Raborar, BRTTH medical director, said that the hospital is catering big volume of patients across the Bicol region and as far as the Visayan region.
Similarly, the Bicol Medical Center based in Naga City, one of the region’s referral hospitals said that in a matter of five days, the Covid-19 admission rate has rapidly increased, “In just five days, our COVID-19 admission rate has rapidly increased. From six COVID-19 patients last January 5, 2022, our census as of January 11, 2022, of confirmed COVID-19 patients has reached 78 and is growing at an alarming rate,” the BMC management said.
“Also, we observed an increasing trend of COVID-19 positivity among our healthcare workers this week, which could affect our hospital operations.
Thus, we are strongly making this appeal to the public. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, with or without a test, please isolate,” the management said.
The provinces of Albay and Camarines Sur in Bicol are placed by IATF under Alert level 3 due to spiking cases. While the 4 other provinces such as Sorsogon, Camarines Norte, Masbate and Catandaunes remain at alert level 2.
Dr. Ernie Vera, DOH regional director in Bicol said that the fight against COVID-19 rests primarily in each individual action.
“Everyone should take the necessary precautions to protectthemselves and others from contracting the virus,” Vera said.
The DOH Bicol is targeting 4.3million Bicolanos to be vaccinated to attain the herd immunity, currently atotal of 2.2 million individuals were fully vaccinated.
As this developed, the DOH Bicol said that the region has enough supply of flumedication, disputing the circulating news in national media reports regarding theshortage of medication for flu-like symptoms.
The DOH Bicol said that drugstores in the region have enough supply of the said medication based on its survey.
The health department in Bicol conducted a quick survey to check thestatus and the supply of paracetamol, thus other flu medication in the region. Out of the 857 drug stores across the Bicol region, 134 outlets responded to the survey.
Based on the survey results, 23 respondents reported that they were out of paracetamol. Fourteen (14) of the 23 reported that they were out of other flu medications.
Vera said that while there is a shortage of branded paracetamol in selected drugstores, generic medication including paracetamol are still available.
He reiterated that branded and generic drugs have the same effect despite differences in price ranges, and encouraged the public to support the use of generic drugs.
“Even with enough supplies of paracetamol and other drugs, the Bicol CHD discourages the practice of panic-buying, hoarding, and self-medication. Should one experience symptoms,consultation with a doctor prior to purchasing medication is strongly advised,” said Vera.