Duque appeals to private hospitals to have more beds for COVID-19 patients in Calabarzon

August 13, 2020

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday called on private hospitals in Calabarzon to increase their bed allocation for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.

Speaking at the visit of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 to Cavite, Duque said: ''It cannot just be government hospitals responding to the crisis. We need both the private and public sector as complimentary team team of capacities.''

"This is why I am now appealing to our private hospitals here, if it's possible to increase their bed capacity for COVID-19 patients," he said.

Cavite and Laguna are two provinces in Cabalarzon which were placed under modified enhanced  community quarantine from August 4 to 18.

"We hope that our mayors can also make a call to the private sector for them to increase to 30 percent their COVID-19 bed capacity," said Duque.

As of August 12, 69 percent of the 541 total ward beds in Calabarzon are occupied.

Data also shows 58 percent of the 1,300 total isolation beds are occupied while 54 percent of the 167 total ICU beds are being used.  DMS