Private hospitals ready for spike of COVID-19, flu-like illnesses — PHAPI

An association of private hospitals on Friday said its member-hospitals are "ready" for the possible spike of coronavirus cases and influenza-like illnesses (ILI) in the country amid the Holiday season.

"Ang mga hospital naman po 'di nagsara ng kanilang mga isolation areas," Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPI) president Jose Rene De Grano said at a public briefing.

(Our hospitals did not close the isolation areas.)

"'Yung dating COVID areas shinift na po namin sa parang infectious diseases areas so lahat ng contagious diseases, infectious diseases ay doon po namin pinapadala. At 'yung mga COVID dinadala namin sa isolation areas," De Grano said.

(We shifted the COVID areas to infectious diseases areas where we isolate patients with contagious and infectious diseases. We bring the coronavirus patients there.)

"Ang ating mga private hospitals ay ready sakali man dumami ang kaso nito," he added.

(Our private hospitals are ready should the COVID-19 cases increase.)

Latest Department of Health (DOH) bulletin showed the Philippines' total nationwide COVID-19 caseload currently stands at 4,128,107. Of the figures, 3,943 cases are active.

According to De Grano, some COVID-19 patients were admitted in private hospitals but most of them are "low-risk."

"Sa mga pribadong hospital po, hindi naman ganoon kadami to the point na nagkakaroon tayo ng surge katulad ng dati. Actually, kung makikita natin karamihan sa mga naa-admit ay low-risk at 'yung iba ay incidental COVID pa," he added.

(We have COVID admissions but not to the point that we're seeing a surge. Most of them are low-risk and incidental COVID.)

As for the ILI, De Grano said they monitored an increase in its admissions but attributed the rise in cases to the weather changes.

"'Yan ang nakikita namin na tumaas, 'yung flu-like illnesses. Kasi talaga namang dahil din siguro sa panahon...Usually, sa last quarter of the year talagang dumarami ang mga kaso na yan," he added.

(We saw an increase in flu-like illnesses but that may be due to the weather. It is normal for cases to spike during the last quarter of the year.)

In November, the DOH said cases of ILI in the country started to "plateau" after they reported a 45% increase in flu-like illnesses in October.

De Grano advised the public to continue adhering to the minimum public health standards such as frequent hand washing to avoid the spread of the viral diseases. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News