BMC Covid beds full as cases surge

By Ana-Liza S. Macatangay

The 176 dedicated beds for Covid-19 of the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease (EREID) and Covid-19 isolation wards of the Bicol Medical Center (BMC) are fully occupied as of Monday, Sept. 27, the hospital chief said.

BMC chief, Dr. Francisco Sales III, in a press statement said that as of 8:00 AM on Monday, the hospital recorded a total of 176 Covid-19 patients, brokendown to: 14 suspected cases; 12 probable cases; and 150 confirmed cases, all of whom are confined and are currently occupying the hospital’s 176 dedicated Covid-19 beds.

Sales said the number did not include the number of patients at the Emergency Room waiting to be transferred to the isolation wards.

On the same day, the Camarines Sur Disaster Management, and Emergency Response Office (EDMERO) recorded 17 deaths in one day, so far the highest number of death in the province since the pandemic started in March last year. This figure does not include the number of deaths in private hospitals in the province and city, which are also swamped with Covid patients daily.

Camarines Sur registered 198 new cases on Sept. 27 bringing its active cases to 2,302 and a total death toll of 382. Since the pandemic started, the province has recorded a total of 10,461 cases.

EDMERO chief Luzena Bermeo said that they are now meeting with various local government units (LGUs) and their municipal disaster risk reduction managements officers (MDRRMOs) to discuss matters concerning the management of the dead in anticipation of more Covid fatalities.

Health officials believed that based from the surge in Covid-19 cases in the Bicol region, there is less chance that the cases will go down anytime soon.

Last week, Sales issued Hospital Order No. 18 series of 2021, prohibiting patient watchers at the Covid-19 ward due to the presence of Delta variant.

“With the ongoing surge of the Delta variant, in the interest and service and as agreed during the Execom meeting last Sept. 20, watchers shall now be prohibited at the COVID and EREID wards and shall not be allowed at the COVID Emergency Room, effectively immediately to clear existing beds for incoming patients,” order said.

Sales further said that this measure is in support to the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Re-emerging Disease’s “pro-active measure and restriction to slow down the surge in Covid-19 cases, stop further spread of variants, and buy time for the health system to cope and to protect more lives.”