PGH reopens wards to non-COVID-19 patients as infections decline

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has now reopened some of its wards to accommodate and cater to non-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients amid the decline of COVID-19 cases in the hospital, its spokesperson said on Thursday, Dec. 2.

“Sa ngayon po, sa huling census, ay 57 na lang po out of the 320 plus beds na in-allocate namin sa COVID may pasyente. That’s barely 20 percent of our beds. Ang ibig sabihin po nito nagkaroon po kami ng pagkakataon para buksan po ‘yung ibang wards para ma-cater na po ‘yung mga non-COVID-19 patients (Right now, based on the latest census, only 57 out of the 320 plus beds allocated for COVID-19 patients remain occupied. That’s barely 20 percent of our beds. This means that we were given the chance to reopen some wards to cater non-COVID-19 patients),” said Dr. Jonas Del Rosario, PGH spokesperson in a DZMM TeleRadyo interview.

He also pointed out that there is now a higher number of non-COVID-19 patients in PGH and its intensive care unit’s (ICU) occupancy is only at half which is a “good sign.”

Del Rosario then reminded the public to continue practicing minimum public health standards despite the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the country to avoid the resurgence of infections.

“I think ituloy muna ang pagmamaskara iwasan po ‘yung masyadong siksikan, para po talagang tuluy-tuloy na po ang masayang pasko natin (I think it is best to continue using facemasks avoid crowded places in order for us to have a merry Christmas),” he said. (Charie Mae F. Abarca)