Manila hospital shuttered by virus reopens

MANILA, Philippines — A public hospital in Manila has reopened after its closure earlier this month when five of its staff tested positive for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Ospital ng Sampaloc (Ossam) said it would provide emergency care to pregnant women and children as it opened its phone line for medical consultations on internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, according to hospital director Aileen Lacsamana.

The Ossam 24/7 hotline is 0916-2532008. The city-run hospital was temporarily shut on April 4 after five staffers were found positive for COVID-19 while 14 doctors, eight nurses and seven administrative staffers were placed in isolation.

The closure was to give way to the disinfection and sanitation of the facility, particularly the operating and delivery rooms.

“[Our health workers] have undergone quarantine, that is why we’re reopening the hospital and resuming operations to provide medical care [to patients],” Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said in a Facebook Live broadcast on Monday night.

—Nikka G. Valenzuela