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Doctor moved to tears when told COVID-19 medicines, equipment running out


A doctor who treats COVID-19 patients in a private hospital shed tears of frustration after he was told that they had run out of the medicines used to treat coronavirus cases, and there were no available devices used to help patients breathe.

In Sandra Aguinaldo's Friday 24 Oras report, Dr. Claro Antonio recounted the moment when he was told that they had run out of the COVID-19 therapy drugs remdesivir, and tocilizumab.

Neither were there any high-flow nasal cannulas nor mechanical ventilators available.

“I was crying when I posted that [on Facebook], maybe out of frustration,” admitted Antonio.

While the hospital he worked in had been ready for an increase in COVID-19 cases, the surge's magnitude caught them off-guard.

“Hindi namin ine-expect na in a month's time na supply namin mauubos siya in a week because of that double, triple natin ng surge cases,” Antonio added.

(We did not expect our month's supply of medicines to run out in a week. This was because of the surge in cases which doubled, even tripled the number of cases.)

“I hope it will not reach the point na, for example, may isang vial ka ng gamot and may lima kang pasyente. Kanino mo ibibigay?”

(I hope we won't find ourselves in a situation in which we only have one vial of medicine but have five patients. Which patient will get treated?)

Meanwhile, other hospitals came to Dr. Antonio's patients' aid and provided the medicines and equipment that his health facility lacked.

“Dito ko po nakita kung papaano nagtutulungan ang mga ospital, especially sa isang area,” said the doctor. “When I posted that, doon sa Facebook, natuwa rin ako kasi maraming gustong tumulong.”

Meanwhile, the Health Department had spoken to the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured remdesivir and tocilizumab, and both companies said that new stocks would arrive this March. — DVM, GMA News

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