FOOD delivery riders are among the very few allowed on the streets in Zamboanga City on Sundays as the local government implements a no-movement Sunday policy until the end of May. — ZAMBOANGA CITY CMO-CIO

ZAMBOANGA City residents who test positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but are asymptomatic are now encouraged to stay at home in isolation as available facilities reach critical level.

“Amidst depleting hospital and isolation facilities due to continuous increase in COVID-19 cases, home isolation is an option,” Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said in a statement Monday.

The city has been placed under the second strictest lockdown level from May 14 to 31 due to a continued uptrend in cases beginning early April.

As of May 15, Zamboanga City had 2,359 active cases out of the total 8,439 recorded since the start of the pandemic, based on the local government’s COVID-19 tracker site.

Of the total, 5,774 recovered while 306 died, with 112 or more than a third of the deaths recorded in April and May this year.

Majority of the active cases are through community transmission at 2,292.

The Zamboanga City Medical Center, the main coronavirus hospital for the city, was at over capacity as of May 15 with 160 patients and 152 beds. Most other hospitals were at over 50% bed occupancy rate.

In terms of facilities and equipment in both public and private hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 patients, Zamboanga City has 15 intensive care unit beds, 426 ventilators and six ambulances.

Patients who will choose to go on home-based isolation are required to be in close coordination with the barangay-level health teams. — MSJ

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