PGH to temporarily close maternity ward amid surge in patients

The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) will be closing its maternity ward for the time being amid a surge in COVID-19 patients and shortage of hospital staff, its spokesperson said Thursday.

PGH spokesperson Jonas Del Rosario said they are looking into closing the maternity ward for at least 24 to 48 hours to give them time to recalibrate.

“Pinapa-announce sa akin na sarado muna ‘yung paanakan ng PGH for the time being kasi kami ang binabaksan ng manganganak na COVID. Maraming ospital na ayaw tumanggap ng COVID patient,” Del Rosario told Super Radyo dzBB.

(They are asking me to announce that the maternity ward of the PGH will be closed for the time being because we accept a lot of pregnant women with COVID. There are a lot of hospitals that don’t accept COVID patients.)

“Kasi dalawa po ang nangyari. Sumobra dami ng pasyente so kailangan namin i-discharge ‘yung iba tapos marami din nagkakasakit na staff, nahawa o nagka-COVID during the holiday,” he added.

(Two things happened. Our patients increased so we needed to discharge some of them and then some of our staff got COVID during the holidays.)

Del Rosario said the hospital reached the decision on Thursday morning as they were trying to accommodate everyone.

“Humingi ng tulong na ‘yung OB Department, nakikiusap po kahit siguro the next 24, 48 hours para lang medyo ma-recalibrate namin at makahanap kami ng malalagyan nila,” he said.

(Our OB Department asked for help. Maybe closure for at least 24, 48 hours so we can recalibrate and find a place where the patients could go.)

According to Del Rosario, 20% of its hospital consultations test positive for COVID.

COVID patients

At present, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients at the PGH is 230, a surge from the 30 patients recorded on December 25.

“Opo, sumisipa ulit ang COVID at nararamdaman namin. We are now, as of the last count, we have 230 confirmed COVID patients na naka-admit sa PGH,” he said.

(Yes, we are feeling an increase. We are have, as of the last count, 230 confirmed COVID patients at PGH.)

Del Rosario 20% of COVID-19 patients at PGH are in severe to critical condition, 50% are moderate cases, while the remaining have mild symptoms.

“’Yung mga mild kung wala talaga silang comorbidity, lalo na ‘yung mga bata-bata, we advise them na isolation at home na lang at home management na lang through our TeleGabay Program at tutulungan na lang namin sila,” he said.

(For those who are mild and without comorbidities, especially the young ones, we advise them to undergo home quarantine and management and we will help them through our TeleGabay Program.)

OCTA earlier said the National Capital Region is "expected to break records" in reporting new COVID-19 cases with up to 11,000 on Thursday and as high as 20,000 on Friday.

The Philippines on Wednesday logged 10,775 new infections, bringing the nationwide tally to 2,871,745. —KBK, GMA News