The Iloilo provincial government is procuring five respirator machines to boost the capacity of the government-run Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in handling coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.
“We are in the process of buying five respirators to augment the capacity of the Western Visayas Medical Center,” Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. confirmed in a media interview on Friday.
The WVMC, located in Mandurriao district here, is a level 3 hospital that covers Panay and Guimaras islands. It has been identified as a Covid-19 designated hospital in the region.
The governor, however, did not disclose the amount allocated for the purchase of the respirators.
Last March 26, the mayor of Concepcion town, Iloilo also donated an intubation set that can be used by Covid-19 patients at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital.
Concepcion Mayor Raul Banias, a medical doctor, said the government needs to augment health facilities.
“When we talk of Covid case, it targets the respiratory (system) and the cause of death is pneumonia,” Banias said, noting the need for respirator machines.
To date, Iloilo province has recorded the most number of confirmed Covid-19-positive patients with 11.
The Department of Health – Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) 6 (Western Visayas) reported on Friday that four new Covid-19 cases were recorded from Lambunao town – three women aged 39 years, 48 years, and 70 years, and a 41-year-old man.
All of them had contact with a 70-year-old male, identified as Western Visayas Patient 16, who tested positive for the disease on March 28 and died the following day.
They are all asymptomatic and placed on home quarantine.
Aside from the new cases in Lambunao, a 44-year-old woman also had contact with Western Visayas Patient 16. She tested positive for the disease last April 1.
Other positive cases in Iloilo province were recorded – three in Guimbal; and one each in Miagao and Barotac Nuevo.
The DOH-CHD-6 said Western Visayas already has 30 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Aside from Iloilo province’s 11, Bacolod City has seven confirmed cases; Aklan has five; Capiz and Iloilo City have three each, and Negros Occidental has one. (PNA)
