55 Bataan General Hospital workers test positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) revealed Tuesday that 55 of its health workers had tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.

According to the hospital chief,  Dr. Glory Baltazar, a doctor and some of the nurses were exposed to a virus carrier during an emergency surgical procedure last April 1. 

The doctor who conducted the surgery tested positive on April 10, Baltazar noted.

Since then, those who had direct contact with the patient and the medical staff who had been infected with the COVID-19 has been tested.

The number of infected workers in the hospital may still increase, according to Baltazar, as all its workers had been tested for the virus.

As of Tuesday, over 700 have so far taken the test, 230 of whom are negative while more than 400 are still waiting for their results.

More than 300 workers had put under quarantine at the BGHMC, separated into three groups on different floors, Baltazar said.

Earlier, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, the country’s main COVID-19 testing center, scaled-down its laboratory operations after 43 employees staff were infected with the novel coronavirus.

To date, the Philippines has 6,599 confirmed cases of the infectious respiratory illness, including 654 recoveries and 437 deaths.

The Department of Health earlier said that at least 766 healthcare workers in the country are confirmed coronavirus carriers as of April 17.

/atm