As coronavirus disease (COVID-19) wards of some hospitals have reached full capacity, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) says it is 93 percent full with 196 COVID-19 patients occupying beds allocated for 210 patients.
In an interview over DZMM, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said about 90 percent of beds at the intensive care unit (ICU) have already been occupied.
"Kakaunti na po ang kama at ire-reserve na namin ito sa mga nasa loob ng PGH dahil yung iba baka kailanganin ng ICU. Medyo hindi po kami makatanggap ngayon ng kritikal na galing sa ibang ospital. Pero yung mga moderate cases po yan po ay natatanggap po sa PGH ngayon (There are only few beds available and we are reserving them for PGH patients because the ICU may need beds. We are currently not admitting critically-ill patients from other hospitals. But we admit moderate cases)," he said.
Del Rosario said patients with mild symptoms are referred to other hospitals or quarantine facilities.
"Most of the time po nasa waitlist yung iba dahil hangga't hindi po namin napapauwi o naililipat yung ibang gumaling o halos patapos na ang gamutan, hindi po namin sila ma-admit. Pero nakaabang po na pag nagka-opening, pinapasok naman po sila (Most of the time patients are waitlisted until we send our recovered patients home. But when we start admitting patients again, we consider them)," he noted.
The surge in hospital admissions may be due to ramped up testing for the pathogen, according to Del Rosario.
"Parang mas marami na pong nagwa-walk in. Dati po kasi lahat nire-refer, tatawag po yan, coordinated transfer. Ngayon po dumidiretso na agad sa emergency room. Dahil nga po marami sigurong maraming nagte-testing. Yung iba po nalalaman nilang sila ay positive, so gusto nilang magpaospital (There are more walk in cases now. In the past, admissions were only based on referrals. They call and they coordinate the transfer. Now, a lot of people go directly to the emergency room. Perhaps because more people are being tested for COVID-19 now. If their results are positive, they immediately want to be admitted)," he added.
Several other hospitals in Metro Manila – St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City and Global City, Makati Medical Center, Lourdes Hospital, The Medical City and the government-owned National Kidney and Transplant Institute -- earlier announced that their COVID-19 wards are already at full capacity following the surge in hospital admissions as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Malacañang, however claimed Tuesday that there are enough hospital beds to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega has been designated as the country's "treatment czar" tasked to coordinate with hospitals and refer patients to other hospitals so that no patient will be turned away because of lack of beds.
Private hospitals have already been advised by Vega to increase the allotment of beds for COVID patients in case of an increase in cases, according to Roque.
Vega earlier said the critical care capacity for ICU beds has reached the "danger zone" as the occupancy rate stood at 70 percent. Among the immediate steps he proposed are to expand hospital capacity by increasing COVID bed allocations, provide additional health care personnel even for private hospitals, and boost medical supply for all hospitals.