FILE PHOTO: The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive at the Sta. Ana Hospital in the city of Manila. Image from the Facebook of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso
MANILA, Philippines — Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Thursday announced that the Sta. Ana Hospital has now reached its full capacity for COVID-19 patients.
“Ngayong araw na ito ay puno na po ang Manila Infectious Disease Control Center na naitatag ng pamahalaang lungsod last year na siya na ating pinakikinabangan ngayon sa Sta. Ana Hospital, puno na ang Sta. Ana Hospital,” he said in a live briefing.
(Today, the Manila Infectious Disease Control Center which was established by the city government last year in Sta. Ana Hospital has now reached full capacity.)
He, however, assured that the city still has space for COVID-19 patients in other hospitals and that the local government will continue to procure the necessary equipment and medicines to treat coronavirus-positive patients.
“Ang good news natin, may oxygen tayo. Marami tayong oxygen. May mga gamit tayong nabili. May mga gamot tayong nakaimbak, remdesivir, tocilizumab, mga mamahaling gamot na nakakatulong mabuhay ang tao,” Moreno said.
(The good news is, we have oxygen. We have a lot of oxygen. We have equipment. We have medicines in stock, remdesivir, tocilizumab, expensive drugs that could help people live.)
Manila City Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, a physician by profession, was recently found positive for the virus. She is currently confined in Sta. Ana Hospital.
“She’s doing good. Siya po ay nasa (She is in the) Manila Infectious Disease Control Center sa (in) Sta. Ana Hospital,” Moreno said.
According to the Manila City mayor, 55 percent of the city’s COVID-19 hospitals are already occupied. While quarantine facilities are 21 percent in use.
As of August 12, the city of Manila has 1,354 active COVID-19 infections, 68,190 recovered patients, and 1,327 deaths.
Other hospitals around Metro Manila have similarly announced that their COVID-19 facilities were already full.
On August 7, just a day after Metro Manila returned to a hard lockdown, the Philippine General Hospital announced that its ICU for coronavirus patients had reached full capacity.
Two days after, St. Luke’s Medical Center said its Taguig and Quezon City branches were at full capacity for coronavirus patients. The Medical City in Pasig likewise issued an advisory on August 9 notifying the public that its COVID-19 facilities are full.
The Philippine Red Cross also announced that its field hospitals are nearing full capacity.
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