Quezon hospital limits services further due to COVID-19 infection among staff, doctors

LUCENA CITY––A government-owned hospital in Gumaca town in Quezon province has advised the public that it would be “temporarily operating on “very limited capacity” after more than 20 employees and health care workers were infected with or are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

“Due to the surge of COVID-19 infection, most of our hospital staff, including our doctors, are either with symptoms or infected with COVID,” the Gumaca District Hospital said in a public advisory posted on its Facebook Wednesday morning.

“No surgical patients will be admitted, also no obstetrical delivery will be done,” the advisory added.

It said that their out-patient-department (OPD) would be closed for two weeks starting Sept. 15.

Mayor Webster Letargo disclosed that “more than 20” staff members and doctors had symptoms, while others had been infected with COVID-19. He did not elaborate on the number.

Letargo assured the public that even though the number of cases was rising, the local government and health authorities were managing the situation.

“Though some of our rural health unit frontliners and contact tracers are under home quarantine, they are still performing their tasks,” Letargo said in an online interview.

He appealed to the public to follow all COVID-19 safety protocols, such as wearing face masks and face shields and observing safe distancing.

Letargo asked residents to stay at home if they had no essential things to do outside.

As of Sept. 14, Gumaca has 72 active COVID-19 infections.

On Friday, Dr. Sonny Ching, Gumaca District Hospital chief, announced that their rooms for COVID-19 patients had reached capacity.

“We will do our best to accommodate you. Emergency cases will be stabilized and referred to other hospitals. With a heavy heart, admission is not guaranteed,” he said in a social media post.

Earlier, the continuous surge in new COVID-19 cases has also caused four other hospitals in Quezon to close their wards dedicated to coronavirus patients.

Quezon had been recording a surge in COVID-19 cases since March.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office logged Tuesday a record-high 307 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day tally since the pandemic began in March last year.

The IPHO recorded 2,575 cases from Sept. 1 to Sept. 14, or at least 183 a day.

The province has 2,349 active cases and a death toll of 1,108.

The Department of Health in Calabarzon said Quezon recorded 37 COVID-19 Delta variant cases as of Sept. 5.

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