DOH confirms 2nd virus death in PH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) confirmed on Wednesday night the second coronavirus death in the Philippines after a 67-year-old Filipino woman died at Manila Doctors Hospital.

“The DOH confirms circulating reports regarding the death of a confirmed COVID-19 patient in Manila. [The] DOH is currently gathering and validating more information on the reported death,” the agency said in a statement.

According to information from the DOH, the elderly woman showed symptoms of the disease on Feb. 29 and was confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus on March 11.

She neither traveled out of the country nor had contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

On Feb. 1, the Philippines recorded its first coronavirus death—a 44-year-old Chinese man from Wuhan, in China’s central province of Hubei, who vacationed in the Philippines with his wife, who also had the virus.

The man died of severe pneumonia.

Earlier on Wednesday, the DOH ordered all government hospitals to temporarily stop admitting patients in their private rooms as these would be used as isolation rooms in the event of a surge in the number of coronavirus infections in the country.

According to Assistant Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the administrators of government hospitals received the order on Monday as the possibility of sustained community transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 arose.

“We want them to reserve the private rooms in every government hospital as these would serve as isolation rooms. So that’s one of our preparations if we will be exceeding our original capacity and we will go into surge capacity,” Vergeire said.

‘Enough’ beds

She, however, gave an assurance that hospital beds dedicated to coronavirus patients are currently “enough.”

Confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines continued to rise, with the DOH reporting 16 more on Wednesday, bringing the total to 49.

Of the confirmed cases, three are imported, all Chinese tourists. Two have recovered and returned to China, while one died of pneumonia. The DOH will announce on Thursday a revised policy on assessment and admission of patients.

Vergeire admitted on Wednesday that there had been “gaps” and “issues” as to how the agency conducted its intensive surveillance of coronavirus cases, as well as of the capacity of hospitals to handle them.

“We saw an increase in the number of people who go to our hospitals. So one of the recommendations is to change the policy on how we admit patients, who should be sent home, who should be tested,” Vergeire said.

The DOH’s decision to review the policy came after an internal memo of The Medical City (TMC) circulated online on Wednesday, saying it would “temporarily stop admitting all patients under investigation, effective immediately.”

‘Full capacity’

The hospital’s emergency room team was also ordered to transfer all the confirmed coronavirus patients and moderately symptomatic patients awaiting admission to other private hospitals as TMC had reached “full capacity.”

In a statement, TMC president and CEO Eugenio Jose Ramos confirmed the memo, but stressed that it was intended to achieve an “acceptable balance” between taking care of the patients and looking after the welfare and well-being of the hospital’s staff.

But the hospital would “remain open to all patients who deserve our care, for as long as our capacity to do so allows,” Ramos said.

He said that on Tuesday night, the TMC staff took care of 31 patients under observation for the coronavirus on top of eight confirmed cases admitted there, a number that “exceeded” the daily load the emergency department usually handled.

Latest information from the DOH showed that of the confirmed coronavirus cases, six are at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), three are at San Lazaro Hospital, and two are at Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium.

The rest of the patients are receiving treatment at various private hospitals. Vergeire said that because the majority of the patients are just mild cases, they can be treated at the hospitals they were brought in.

Only when their symptoms become severe or critical will they be transferred to the referral hospitals designated by the DOH.

Poor patients

Apart from the 50-bed RITM, these are San Lazaro and Lung Center of the Philippines in Manila, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Northern Luzon, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in the Visayas, and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Mindanao.

Asked how indigent people could be looked after should they contract the virus, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III told lawmakers on Wednesday that under the universal health care law, private hospitals are mandated to reserve 10 percent of their beds to ward patients.

The World Health Organization earlier said that of all coronavirus cases, 81 percent are mild, 14 progress to become severe cases and only 5 percent end up critical.

Dr. Celia Carlos, the RITM director, earlier said that to focus the institute’s efforts, it had decided to accept in the meantime only patients suffering from COVID-19, rabies and snake bites. She added that protocols have also been put in place in the event that there would be a surge in confirmed cases.

“We have been responding to so many outbreaks. Now we are the referral hospital and laboratory. If there would be a surge in cases, there are other DOH hospitals that can accept the patients. That has already been organized by the DOH,” Carlos said.

The RITM has 10 negative pressure rooms to ensure the patients are completely isolated. Staff members are provided with full-body personal protective equipment so that they may not be infected by the virus.

Visits to confirmed cases are also discouraged, especially because guests are also required to wear protective suits.

At San Lazaro, 21 beds have been dedicated to coronavirus patients, said Dr. Ferdinand de Guzman, spokesperson for the hospital.

—With a report from Doris Abadilla-Dumlao