Benguet has taken a breather with the downtrend in Covid-19 cases the past two weeks.
Gov. Melchor Diclas reported cases recently went down to 100 to 150 cases a day compared to the previous months where the province logged 250 to 300 cases a day.
The Provincial Health Office reported from Oct. 10 to 20, the province recorded its lowest cases on Oct. 12 and Oct. 20 with 30 and 93, respectively.
The province now has a total of 20,684 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which 2,451 are active, 17,559 recoveries, and 674 deaths since last year.
“Our cases have been lowered but we could see that our hospital utilization rate is still high,” Diclas said.
He said most Covid-19 patients in the hospitals are severe cases requiring oxygen support. The Benguet General Hospital requires at least 240 oxygen tanks per day, which is slightly lower compared to 300 tanks of oxygen consumed daily.
Rep. Eric Yap has donated on Oct. 20, 100 tanks, including refill, to BeGH to address any possible shortage of oxygen among patients. The oxygen tanks would be refilled on a weekly basis.
Yap said another 100 tanks would be donated in the coming weeks and divided to the five district hospitals of the province.
The district hospitals managed by the province are Northern Benguet District Hospital in Buguias, Atok District Hospital, Kapangan Community Medicare Center, Itogon District Hospital, and Dennis Molintas Memorial Hospital in Bokod.
He said the oxygen tanks came from his personal funds since there is a tedious process when the government plans to purchase the tanks.
Diclas, meanwhile, has reminded eligible individuals to get vaccinated especially with the province already allowing walk-in vaccinees in the various vaccination centers. – Ofelia C. Empian
