MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital is feeling the pinch of the latest surge in COVID-19 cases, with its intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients reaching full capacity and admissions of coronavirus patients hitting a two-month high.
PGH’s nearly 50 ICU beds for COVID-19 patients are occupied, leaving the hospital unable to admit patients needing intensive care referred to them, hospital spokesperson Jonas del Rosario told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo on Saturday.
Del Rosario said that they have resorted to setting up makeshift ICU beds in their COVID-19 wards for patients who make the turn for the worse while their ICU is full.
“Napipilitan po kami na i-convert ‘yung kung nasaan man sila, i-convert ‘yun na ICU setup. Lalagyan mo ng ventilator, kung anong kailangan nila, magde-demand ka ng mas maraming tao doon dahil tututukan,” he said.
(We are forced to convert their beds into an ICU setup. We’ll place a ventilator, whatever they need, and demand more people to look after them.)
The PGH spokesperson also reported a “steady” increase in COVID-19 admissions to the hospital, with 169 patients getting admitted Friday night — the highest in two months.
He said the hospital’s 225-bed COVID-19 wards are now 75% occupied, straining the hospital’s manpower and prompting them to shut down non-COVID units.
“Nagiging priority po ‘yung COVID, kaya naapektuhan po minsan ‘yung aming non-COVID patients,” Del Rosario said.
(COVID becomes the priority, that’s why sometimes our non-COVID patients are affected.)
The country logged 10,623 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the first day that Metro Manila, the province of Laguna and the cities of Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro went into enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.
This is the highest daily tally of coronavirus cases in a single day since April 17, when 11,101 cases were recorded.