Woman in labor turned away from two hospitals due to number of patients

A woman in labor was turned away from two hospitals due to the increasing COVID-19 patients' being admitted, according to Cedric Castillo’s “24 Oras” report on Tuesday.

“Tinanggihan po siya dahil ano po puno po yung sa may paanakan po, kahit sa loob o sa labas basta may paanakan po siya okay na po yun,” the patient's husband said.

(She was turned away because of the hospital’s full capacity. We just want her to be admitted, whether inside or outside the hospital, as long as she will safely give birth.)

He added that when his wife was admitted at Ospital ng Sampaloc, she yielded positive results on the antigen testing conducted by the hospital.

“Positive daw po kasi may ubo at sipon, kaya dito po siya pinapaanak sa labas lang po,” he said.

(She tested positive because she had a cough and cold, that is why she was admitted outside the hospital.)

Meanwhile, the management of Ospital ng Sampaloc said they were isolating patients with COVID-19 symptoms from the non-COVID-19 patients to prevent the transmission of the viral disease.

“Alam natin na may symptoms, definitely hindi natin ihahalo ‘pag manganganak na,” Edgardo Marcelo, information officer of Ospital ng Sampaloc, said.

(If there are COVID-19 symptoms, we definitely don’t mix them with other patients especially when giving birth.)

“Dahil ang iisipin natin is paano ‘yung mga patients na non-COVID? Hindi naman natin puwedeng i-prioritize ang testing kaagad eh nandiyan na, lalabas na halimbawa ‘yung bata,” he added.

(We also have to think about those who don't have COVID-19. We can't prioritize testing right away, for example, when she is about to give birth.)

Marcelo said the hospital currently has 26 COVID-19 patients in wards, adding that they are operating with a 33-bed capacity.

Several hospitals in Metro Manila also temporarily stopped admitting patients due to the rise in COVID-19 infections among hospital employees and personnel.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has placed the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 from January 3 to 15, 2022, following the sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases.

The Philippines on Tuesday posted 5,434 additional COVID-19 infections, raising the country's total tally to 2,861,119. — Richa Noriega/BM, GMA News