A group of Filipino physicians said on Saturday, Sept. 4, that an India-like surge is possible in the Philippines as hospitals all over the country continue to fill up amid the rising coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections.
In an interview over TeleRadyo, Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) president Dr. Maricar Limpin said some hospitals in the country have already exceeded their capacities.
"Talagang masyadong overwhelmed na ang sistema and ito ay simply because sa dami ng tao na nagkakaroon ng COVID-19 kaya kailangan talagang may gawin na tayo na tunay na hakbang para ma-contain na natin itong pandemyang ito (The system is really overwhelmed and it's simply because of the number of people who are getting COVID-19, so we really need to take real steps to contain this pandemic)," Limpid said.
She cited the situation in some hospitals in Laguna and Cebu where health workers sometimes have to choose who among the patients should be given the ventilator.
"Kaya importante ma-contain natin ang pandemic na ito, kung hindi ito ang makikita natin (That's why it's really important to contain this pandemic, if not we will see a similar situation) all over the country," Limpin said.
Limpin also asked the government to "get their acts together."
"Kung hindi nila gagawan ito ng paraan at kung di nila gagawin ang recommendation namin noong isang taon pa, hindi natin mako-contain ang pandemic na ito. The whole healthcare system will really collapse. Yung nakikita natin sa India, that's going to happen here in our country. Nag-uumpisa na natin makita ito ngayon but ayaw natin lumala pa yan (If they don't solve this now and if they don't listen to our recommendations, we won't be able to contain this pandemic. The whole healthcare system will collapse. What we saw in India, that's going to happen here. We are starting to see it now but we don't want it to get worse)," she added.
The physician batted for the digitalization of the Department of Health's (DOH) data, saying their data is "very different" from what is happening on the ground.
Limpin also called on the government to strictly implement health protocols and have a standardized system for contact tracing, isolation intervention, and COVID-19 testing.
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