PGH reaches highest number of COVID patients in 4 months
By Noreen Jazul
The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has reached its highest number of admitted COVID-19 patients in four months on Monday (March 15).
GH Spokesperson Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said PGH currently has 134 COVID patients.
Del Rosario said PGH is admitting about 10 COVID patients “almost every day” since about two weeks ago.
“Because of that, we expanded our COVID operations and we have to open rooms that we already allocated for the non-COVID part of the hospital,” Del Rosario told CNN Philippines.
The PGH spokesperson also said the hospital is seeing “a little bit more severe cases than last year.”
Out of the 134 COVID patients in PGH, about 30 are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), according to Del Rosario.
“When you are in the ICU, you are in a critical condition, you are intubated,” he said.
Fifty percent of PGH’s COVID patients, meanwhile, are moderate cases, and about 20 percent are severe, Del Rosario added.
PGH has also detected the South African variant in three of its patients.
Cases among healthcare workers in PGH have likewise increased to 110.
“A lot of them are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic, but just the same, they have to be isolated or quarantined for those who are exposed,” Del Rosario said.
Despite a “steady increase” in COVID patients and a rising number of infected healthcare workers, Del Rosario said the PGH is still “okay” with its operations, and is “not yet overwhelmed.”
However, Del Rosario said the increasing trend in cases is a “concern” for the hospital.
“I think some of the hospitals now are full so we expect that a lot of patients will be coming to us, and in due time, we will also be almost 100 percent occupied,” he said.
Asked what would prompt hospitals to call for a timeout, the PGH spokesperson said: “I think if the basis will be if all the capacity of all the hospitals are pretty much reached and maybe shortage of people who are taking care of COVID.”
The Philippines logged 5,404 new COVID-19 cases on March 15, bringing the country’s total tally to 626,893.