PGH opens wards to non-COVID patients amid lower cases

Facade of the UP-Philippine General Hospital. Image from the PGH website

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Thursday said that it has finally opened its wards to non-COVID-19 patients amid a lower number of infected cases in the country.

“Sa ngayon po, ‘yung huling census, ay 57 patients na lang po out of the 320 plus beds na in-allocate namin sa COVID ang may pasyente.  So that’s barely 20 percent of our beds,” said PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas Del Rosario in an interview over DZMM.

(So far, in the last census, only 57 patients out of the 320 plus beds that we allocated to COVID have patients. So that’s barely 20 percent of our beds.)

“Ang ibig sabihin po nito nagkaroon po kami ng pagkakataon para buksan po ‘yung ibang wards para ma-cater na po ‘yung mga non-COVID-19 patients,” he added.

(This means that we had the opportunity to open other wards to cater to non-COVID-19 patients.)

He also pointed out that there is now a higher number of non-COVID-19 patients in PGH and only a fraction of its intensive care unit (ICU) is occupied – which is a “good sign.”

“In fact mas marami na po talagang pasyente na non-covid at kung noon sa emergency room ang nakapila ay mga may COVID, ngayon po ay baliktad na,” said Del Reosario.

(There are actually more non-COVID patients. And if then in the emergency room, those in the queue were those with COVID, now it’s the other way around.)

Del Rosario, however, reminded the public to continue practicing minimum public health standards despite the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the country to avoid the resurgence of infections especially amid the emergence of the Omicron variant.

As of December 2, the Department of Health (DOH) reported that the country currently has 15,188 active cases, 2,769,533 recoveries, and 48,752 deaths out of the 2,833,473 confirmed COVID-19 cases since last year.

READ: PH posts 564 new COVID-19 cases; positivity rate at 1.7%

Despite the lower number of cases recorded and health utilization rate, however, the country braces for the arrival of the new Omicron variant, which, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, is only a matter of time.

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