In an online press conference, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III urged medical centers to comply with the COVID-19 bed allocation, which is 20 percent for private hospitals and 30 percent for public hospitals. He, likewise, reminded the local government units to strictly enforce minimum health standards in their respective communities. “Complement this with active case finding and with immediate quarantine or isolation of close contacts and confirmed cases, respectively,” Duque said. This after Duque warned that an increase of cases in nine cities of Metro Manila could signal the beginning of COVID-19 surge. As of Dec. 16, DOH reported 451,839 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, with 418,867 recoveries and 8,812 fatalities.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 17, 2020 06:00 UTC