2 Kalinga hospitals reach full COVID-19 bed capacity

BAGUIO CITY—Two hospitals in Kalinga province have temporarily stopped accepting patients infected with COVID-19 after reaching their maximum bed capacity.

In an advisory on Monday (Sept. 20), the Infection Prevention Committee (IPC) of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital (KPH) in Barangay Bulanao, Tabuk City, said the hospital’s 72 beds dedicated to COVID-19 have all been occupied.

So far, the KPH has been treating 90 COVID-19 patients and 10 of them are hospital staff.

At least 30 other hospital personnel who also contracted the virus recently were placed under home quarantine.

According to the KPH management, all hospital personnel will undergo swabbing to prevent further internal transmission.

It said the emergency room would remain open but only for Kalinga residents.

On Sept. 18, the Holy Trinity Medical Clinic (HTMC), also in Bulanao, was the first to stop accepting COVID-19 patients after reaching its full capacity temporarily. Some of its healthcare workers had also tested positive for the virus.

HTMC had asked all suspect, probable, and confirmed COVID-19 cases to seek care in other hospitals although non-COVID-19 cases will still be accommodated.

As of Monday, the local government confirmed seven new cases of the more transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 were recorded in the province. To date, the province has eight cases of the Delta variant. INQ