San Lazaro Hospital receiving more referrals for suspected nCoV cases —spox

More patients have been referred to the San Lazaro Hospital for screening to determine whether they will fall under the person under investigation (PUI) category for suspected infection of the novel coronavirus (nCoV).

On Thursday, San Lazaro Hospital spokesperson Dr. Ferdinand de Guzman said the facility has been receiving more referrals to screen patients based on Department of Health’s nCoV checklist.

“Marami pa rin pong referrals sa amin. ‘Yung iba most for screening and to make sure na papasok pa ‘yun sa checklist issued by the DOH,” De Guzman said in an interview on Unang Balita.

San Lazaro Hospital has been attending to three PUIs, including a Chinese male who recently died.

De Guzman said the deceased PUI was referred by the Manila Health Office to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH). The PGH, then, coordinated the transfer to the San Lazaro Hosptial.

“Ni-refer po ito ng Manila Health Office sa PGH. Then PGH arranged the transport to San Lazaro Hospital. So, in-admit po ito sa amin,” De Guzman said in a separate interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

He said San Lazaro Hospital is “the governmet-referred facility for this kind of diseases.”

De Guzman, meanwhile, denied that lockdown was imposed on the hospital, saying that they only close the gates of the establishment and cordon the area when a patient for screening arrives.

When considered PUI, the patient should stay in negative pressure room or isolation room.

De Guzman said that, currently, the remaining two PUIs are occupying the only two isolation rooms of the facility. Due to this, they designated other spaces as isolation rooms for contingency.

The deceased PUI is now placed in a freezer, upon the instruction of the medical center’s chief and infection control team.

De Guzman said San Lazaro Hospital already contacted the Chinese Embassy regarding the remains of the deceased PUI. For the meantime, the body will remain at the facility's morgue.

The death toll from nCoV in China has leaped to 170 on Thursday, the Chinese government said, with more than 1,700 new infections confirmed.

From Wuhan City in China, nCoV already spread to other counties in Asia Pacific Region as well as in countries in North America, Europe, and Middle East.

On Tuesday, the number of PUIs in the Philippines has almost doubled in a day as it climbed to 24. No case of nCoV infection has been confirmed in the country yet, according to the DOH. —KBK, GMA News