2 more hospitals in Quezon close COVID-19 wards due to rise in cases

LUCENA CITY – The continuous surge of new COVID-19 cases has caused two more hospitals in Quezon to temporarily close its wards dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.

On Friday, September 10, the government-owned Gumaca District Hospital in Gumaca town announced that their rooms for COVID-19 patients have reached full capacity.

“We will do our best to accommodate you. Emergency cases will be stabilized and referred to other hospitals. (But) With a heavy heart, admission is not guaranteed,” Dr. Sonny Ching, hospital chief, said in a post on social media.

On Thursday, Sept. 9, the Magsaysay Memorial District Hospital, another government-run medical facility in Lopez town also issued a similar public advisory.

“Despite our continuous efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, we still recorded a significant increase in the number of infection rate among health care workers, particularly with our front-line personnel,” the hospital administration said on its Facebook page.

The hospital urged patients with COVID-19 symptoms to seek care and treatment in other medical facilities.

In August, the Mount Carmel Diocesan General Hospital and the Lucena United Doctors Hospital (LUDHMC) and Medical Center, two of the biggest private medical facilities in the province both located in this city, also announced that their COVID-19 wards are already at full capacity.

The LUDHMC also informed the public that their laboratory will not be accepting walk-in patients for RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing due to a fully booked schedule.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded 203 new cases on Sept. 10 amid the lingering threats from the highly contagious Delta variant.

On Sept. 9, the IPHO logged 236 newly validated COVID-19 patients, the province’s new highest single-day tally since the pandemic began in March last year.

As of Sept. 10, Quezon, which remains under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until Sept. 30, has 2,311 active cases from only 705 on July 23.

Lucena City, the provincial capital which is under strict modified enhanced community quarantine until the end of the month, topped the list with 535 active virus carriers.

The COVID-19 death toll in Quezon rose to 1,053, as 11 more patients died on Thursday.

According to the Department of Health (DOH) in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Quezon has recorded 37 COVID-19 Delta variant cases as of Sept. 5. Two of the COVID-19 patients with Delta variant died and two others have been under hospital confinement.

At least 16 of the patients have recovered while the rest of the cases were being subjected “for verification.”