Tagbilaran hospital closes after mother lies about contact with COVID-positive case

A hospital in Tagbilaran City has announced its temporary closure after a mother failed to disclose that she and her son were exposed to a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patient.

A hospital in Tagbilaran City has announced its temporary closure after a mother failed to disclose that she and her son were exposed to a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patient. pic.twitter.com/zdcYZROpkp

— Joahna Lei Casilao (@joahnacasilao) July 23, 2020

In an advisory, Tagbilaran Maternity and Children’s Hospital medical director Franz Balagonsa said that on Sunday, a five-year-old child and his mother went to the hospital for confinement with chief complaints of fever and vomiting.

Balagonsa said that prior to the admission process, the mother and son were interviewed by a nurse following the Department of Health standard questionnaire on possible COVID-19 exposure.

The mother claimed that they did not come in contact with a suspected case or a positive patient or someone who has a recent travel history. They were then roomed-in with another patient who also showed impressions of dengue fever.

On the same day, the Tagbilaran City Health Office called the hospital to say that the five-year-old patient is the younger brother of the 13-year-old who tested positive that afternoon.

“The mother of the patient did not disclose that they were under home monitoring because they were exposed with the OFW that traveled back to Manila and tested positive a few weeks ago,” Balagonsa said.

The patient was then transferred to the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital as the Tagbilaran Maternity and Children’s Hospital is not a COVID-19 referral facility.

On Monday, the facility halted its operations and was disinfected while most of the employees on duty would be placed under quarantine until the patient's RT-PCR test result would be released.

“Some employees who had direct contact with the patient went home not knowing that the child is a suspected case of COVID-19. Their respective LGUs were notified and they are now placed on quarantine,” Balagonsa said.

“For the safety of the public and due to the fact that almost half our our personnel were exposed, our hospital remains closed until the patient would yield a negative RT-PCR result,” he added

Balagonsa urged the public to disclose the truth upon interview.

“We encourage the public to always have proper disclosure upon interview during the triaging process in order to prevent this kind of incident from happening again,” he said. —LDF, GMA News