MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is in favor of extending the strict quarantine measures in Metro Manila and adjoining provinces under the NCR Plus bubble of the number of admitted COVID-19 patients keep piling up.
In a televised briefing, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said they have yet to see any “significant” improvement in COVID-19 admissions despite the ongoing modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and the recent two-week ECQ.
“Kung ang PGH po ang number namin ay at least 200 patients pa rin ang nakaadmit pa rin per day, extension of the MECQ to us will probably help in further decreasing the transmission hopefully and then fewer people will get hospitalized,” Del Rosario said.
(If we still have 200 patients admitted per day, an extension of the MECQ to us will probably help in further decreasing the rate of transmission hopefully and fewer people will get hospitalized.
Facade of the UP – Philippine General Hospital (Image from the PGH website)
Del Rosario said the hospital currently attends to an average of 220 admitted COVID-19 patients.
Prior to the implementation of ECQ, the number of admitted patients reached 240 and even close to 250 or its full capacity.
“Ito pong nakaraang two weeks, medyo slowly bumaba sa ngayon po nasa mga 220 ang aming average. Hopefully, magtuloy tuloy pa po. So there’s a little bit of improvement but I would say it’s not yet that significant in a way,” he added.
(These past two weeks, the number has decreased to an average of 220 patients. Hopefully, it will continue. There’s a little bit of improvement but I think it’s not yet that significant in a way.)
But before the surge in cases, Del Rosario noted PGH has less than 100 COVID-19 patients admitted.
Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite and Laguna, o the so-called NCR Plus bubble, are under MECQ until the end of April.
Prior to its shift to MECQ, it was under the strictest measure of ECQ in a bid to suppress the number of new COVID-19 infections.