Around 50 medical frontliners of Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) in Tondo, Manila have tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
GABMMC Director Doctor Ted Martin, in an interview with DZBB on Monday, Jan. 3, said the 50 medical frontliners are mostly asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.
Most of them have been fully vaccinated and given booster shots against COVID-19.
Martin said that starting from Dec. 28, employees of GABMMC began testing positive for COVID-19.
“Kaya napaka-importante ang mass testing ng isang pasilidad katulad ng ospital, kaya ini-encourage ko po ang mga ospital at ibang health facility na mag mass testing ngayon. Napakabilis po ng transmission... Bigla po, bigla talaga ang dami agad (That’s why mass testing is so important in health facilities, this is why I encourage that other hospitals and health facilities begin mass testing now. transmission is happening at a rapid pace and many suddenly started testing positive),” said Martin.
Martin also said that most of those who tested positive had come from family gatherings and holiday outings based on their contract tracing information.
GABMMC temporarily halted admissions to its emergency rooms and also shut down its laboratory facility while conducting facility disinfection. It also kept its COVID-19 positive employees isolated.
GABMMC has over 600 employees, according to Martin. The hospital will continue to admit patients and function even without the emergency room and laboratory facilities.
Meanwhile, another Manila district hospital, the Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital (JJASGH) announced on Jan. 2 that it will resume admitting patients after temporarily shutting down on Jan. 1 due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.