VSMMC frontliners get COVID-19

CEBU, Philippines —  At least 18 health workers, including four doctors and seven nurses, of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center have tested positive for COVID-19, sparking a contact tracing drive for those who have been in close contact with them to quell the further spread of the virus.

Department of Health-7 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, in a virtual conference yesterday, said the agency is waiting for the results of the tracing, which included the patients handled by the health workers, their households, and community.

VSMMC chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr. said that four doctors, seven nurses, two nursing attendants and five institutional workers in the hospital contracted the virus. They were all assigned to the operating rooms.

Eight of the infected hospital workers are showing mild symptoms while ten are asymptomatic.

“Our affected healthcare workers from the OR (operating room) are already managed in our facility for their health monitoring and safety. All 18 healthcare workers are in stable condition,” Aquino said.

Timeline

The first case, according to Loreche, was detected on December 29, 2020 when a nurse tested positive for COVID-19. More nurses followed suit on January 1, and then the doctors on January 2.

“Based on the report submitted to us, it started with one of the operating room nurses,” Loreche said, adding that the nurse was not feeling well as of December 28 but only ignored it and even assisted in the surgical procedures at the operating room.

VSMMC’s operating rooms will be closed from January 5 to 7 for general cleaning and decontamination.

“With this, all elective surgeries shall be temporarily suspended, except for emergency surgeries that shall be accommodated by this medical center following the prioritization of patients and implementation of strict infection prevention and control protocols,” the hospital said in a statement.

Loreche explained this is just a temporary suspension as she assured that all emergency procedures will still be attended to and that the management is doing its best to contain further infection.

Aside from decontamination, engineering controls such as the air-conditioners, filters, water supply, beds, operating room lights, among others, will also be inspected.

Aquino also said that as part of the mitigating procedures, the management has been constantly reminding all personnel to be mindful of existing protocols.

Despite the risks, he said that VSMMC will continue to perform its mandate of providing quality healthcare service to the public.

Staycation?

Meanwhile, Loreche confirmed that some doctors and frontline medical workers have been staying in hotels as the DOH has allocated a budget for such expenditure.

Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) president Carlo Suarez separately confirmed yesterday the booking of close to 1,000 rooms in major hotels in the city that are occupied by medical professionals.

Suarez said the DOH initially booked a thousand rooms as “staycation treat” for doctors and nurses but less than a thousand are actually being utilized.

Suarez begged off from divulging the hotel properties tapped by the DOH for its R&R (rest and recreation) incentives, citing confidentiality.

As to why the healthcare workers are billeted at hotels, Loreche explained: “For them to rest after their shift and also to boost their morale and for them to be isolated from their families and quarantine themselves.”

She said that with this setup, the frontliners’ families are not exposed to the risk of contracting the virus. Those who have been staying in hotels have also been tested and included in the contact tracing efforts.

EOC monitoring

Data from the Cebu City Emergency Operations Center showed that 17 healthcare workers (HWCs) were found positive for COVID-19 in October last year, five in November, and three in December.

After the New Year, the center has tallied 15 cases so far involving HWCs, some of whom doctors, nurses and other medical frontliners from five different hospitals, according to EOC deputy chief implementer and City Councilor Joel Garganera.

The councilor refused to name the hospitals saying it is not their business to identify the establishments and facilities involved. He said EOC’s role is only to look after the people’s safety and to ensure that protocols in contact tracing, decontamination, isolation, among others, are being followed.

Loreche, however, said there were other hospitals identified since some of the doctors at VSMMC are also holding clinics in private hospitals.

EOC monitoring shows that the asymptomatic HCWs are being isolated in a DOH-accredited hotel while those with mild symptoms are in a hospital facility. — Caecent No-ot Magsumbol, Ehda M. Dagooc, JMD (FREEMAN)