NCMH records 18 COVID-19 cases with 2 fatalities

The National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) has recorded 18 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including two fatalities, chief administrative officer Clarita Avila said Thursday.

Avila said the number includes both psychiatric patients and hospital staff.

“We have 12 employees na positive and six psychiatric patients na positive. Unfortunately, ‘yung dalawa namatay na,” Avila said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

According to her, 228 of their staff were considered as persons under investigation (PUIs) and 139 as persons under monitoring (PUMs). She said all are staying at their homes right now.

Meanwhile, 11 psychiatric patients were considered as PUIs. They are still admitted at the mental health facility, she said.

“Unfortunately, 30 percent ng aming staff ay hindi na pumapasok for the reason that they are PUIs, PUMs. Some are naka-lockdown, walang transportation,” she added.

“Some of them are probably scared because we lack supplies to protect them,” she added.

Since the enhanced community quarantine on March 17, Avila said visitors of the psychiatric patients were barred from entering their building.

Even donors are only allowed to stay up to the gate.

Avila said the infected psychiatric patients were transferred from Pavilion 28 to Pavilion 7, as the management decided to put the Pavilion 28 on lockdown after the confirmation of COVID-19 cases in the facility.

She said the operation of the psychiatric hospital, as well as its branches, was affected by the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, where mobility is restricted.

She added the laundry services for their patients were halted, which resulted in piling up of used clothes.

Avila also lamented the poor quality of food being provided by a supplier to their branch in Camarin. She said the food service in the branch used to be  in-house but the director decided to outsource it.—AOL, GMA News