While the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) was designated the only Davao City hospital for confirmed COVID-19 patients, private hospitals may still admit them, according to Executive Order (EO) 60-A series of 2021 issued on November 4, 2021.
Acting Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s updated EO added Section 3 on exception, which states, “Any private hospital, on their own discretion, may continue to accept Covid-19 patients notwithstanding this Order.”
He said it is wiser to designate a single hospital for COVID-19 services as the number of confirmed cases in the city decreases and the vaccination and recovery rates are improving.
EO 60-A is also known as âAn Order Designating A Single Hospital for Confirmed COVID-19 Patients in Davao City.â
âDesignating a single hospital to cater to COVID-19 confirmed cases will protect healthcare personnel assigned in other hospitals from exposure to workplace-acquired COVID-19,â the vice mayor said.
He also said that designating the government hospital as the sole COVID-19 hospital will allow private hospitals to free up their allotted COVID beds and medical staff for non-COVID cases and sustain their business operations.
EO 60 also provides that all private hospitals in Davao City shall ensure support to SPMC by not admitting confirmed positive COVID-19 patients; reopening their facilities to accommodate confirmed COVID-19 patients in case of a surge, and must prepare for the possibility to be designated as a COVID-19 hospital.
Private hospitals shall be on a decking order and will be properly informed by the City Government and Department of Health (DOH) as to when they shall reopen as a COVID-19 hospital.
EO 60-A cited the City Health Officeâs COVID-19 Daily Case Bulletin report that there were 2,328 active cases in Davao City as of October 25, 2021, which is a significant drop from the 5,402 active cases as of October 10 and 4,031 active cases as of October 17.
The Daily Case Bulletin also showed an increase in the COVID-19 recovery rate in the city, from 86.4 percent on October 10 to 92.4 percent on October 25.
Davao City is currently at 71.77 percent for first doses and 62.19 percent for second doses in its target number of vaccinations, as reported by the Davao COVID-19 Task Force on October 25, 2021.
Here is the full version of EO 60-A ? https://dcstaging.davaocity.gov.ph/transparency/executive-orders/2021-executive-orders/. CIO
