CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government is planning to purchase 100 oximeters, a noninvasive device that measures the oxygen level of a person, for the rural health units of the towns in the province and the offices at the Capitol.
According to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, the acquisition of the device is part of the efforts to monitor the health status of patients in the province.
Garcia said that from the meetings she attended with the Cabinet secretaries from the national Inter-Agency Task Force, she was “struck” by the statement of a doctor about how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is supposedly a disease with symptoms that suddenly progresses; and thus, needs stringent monitoring.
“It is important that we measure the oxygen level of each person. We will be providing oximeters to all of our RHUs and all of our hospitals so that, once it (oxygen level) falls below 90, then immediately, they must be attended to,” Garcia said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) pulse oximetry manual, “the oxygen saturation in healthy patients of any age should be 95 percent or above.
The governor said they have already tapped a supplier and they are now negotiating the price for each unit of the device. Garcia said the supplier pegged each oximeter at P2,380./dbs