Around 25 percent of the Philippine General Hospital's (PGH) staff are currently infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), hospital spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said Saturday, Jan. 8.

"Marami po sa aming healthcare workers ang nagkaka-COVID. Twenty-five percent po sa aming workforce ngayon ay may COVID. Napakalaki pong bilang yun lalo na sa key areas, napipilay kami (Many of our healthcare workers are getting COVID-19. Twenty-five percent of our workers now has COVID-19. That's a huge number, especially in key areas, we're crippled)," Del Rosario said in a virtual public briefing.

"Marami rin pong nagku-quarantine. Kailangang i-quarantine dahil na-expose sila. So as much as about 40 percent po ang aming workforce ang affected. Either infected or na-expose (Many are also quarantined. They need to be quarantined because they have been exposed. So much as about 40 percent of our workforce is affected. Either infected or exposed)," he noted.

According to Del Rosario, out of 5,000 health workers in PGH, 2,000 are "directly involved" in the COVID-19 operations of the hospital.

"So kung ang gagamitin natin na base ay 1,200 o ilagay mo nang 1,000, so mga 250 frontliners (So if we use 1,200 or 1,000 as base, about 250 frontliners are affected)," he said when asked about the number of PGH staff who caught COVID.

The spokesperson added that PGH is no longer requiring quarantine for asymptomatic health workers.

"Kagaya po ng suggestion ng IATF , inadopt na namin na yung lahat po ng asymptomatic na na-expose hindi na po namin sila pinagku-quarantine, basta wala po silang symptoms, tuloy lang po ang trabaho (As suggested by the IATF, we have adopted that all asymptomatic health workers who have been exposed will no longer undergo quarantine. As long as they do not exhibit symptoms, their work will continue)," Del Rosario said.

"Kasi hindi po namin kayang i-quarantine ang napakaraming empleyado, doktor, nurses, at mga support staff dahil wala na pong magseserbisyo sa ospital (Because we can't quarantine so many employees, doctors, nurses, and support staff because there will be no more staff who will serve in the hospital)," he added.