NOAH to keep full staff despite fewer patients

CEBU, Philippines —  The New Oasis for Adaptation and a Home (NOAH) complex at the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City is down to about 60 COVID-19 patients as of May 2, 2021 but management said it will retain a full staff to ensure that the quality of service will remain.

The NOAH Complex houses asymptomatic COVID patients and accredited by the Department of Health.

It’s manager, Atty. Jocelyn Pesquera, said there are 80 people in the staff, which includes doctors, nurses, barangay health workers, administrative personnel, logistics personnel, guards, janitors, and drivers.

In the first quarter of the year, NOAH was forced to increase its bed allocation to 450 from 360 after Cebu City started to see a resurgence of cases following the holidays.

DOH identified the first quarter, particularly from mid-January to mid-March as the period wherein the city experienced a second wave of coronavirus infections. The number of cases has plateaued since then.

But Pesquera said that aside from fewer infections, the reopening of the of the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC), barangay isolation centers (BIC), and opening of more isolation hotels for asymptomatic patients are also the other reasons why fewer patients are housed at the NOAH Complex.

At least 43 patients are at CCQC and 183 others are at BICs.

Situation

Based on records of its Emergency Operations Center, the city’s number of active cases rose to 619 at the start of May from 600 at the end of April.

The city registered 50 new cases and only 22 recoveries at the start of the month.

Despite this, Cebu City’s positivity rate remains low at 3.98 percent out of 1,255 tested on May 1.

Critical care occupancy rate also remains safe at 24.4 percent for both public and private hospitals, which is way below the 60 percent World Health Organization threshold.

The 24.4 percent means only 228 of the 933 beds allocated for COVID patients are occupied.

Active cases are from 58 of the city’s 80 barangays.

DOH-7’s May 1, 2021 case bulletin showed that Cebu City still has 839 active cases but the EOC said this is because data have yet to be harmonized. — Caecent No-ot Magsumbol, JMO (FREEMAN)