ER of Manila hospital temporarily closes after 8 staffers contract COVID-19

Gat Andress Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (Photo from its Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — The emergency room of a public hospital in Manila has been ordered to be temporarily closed after eight of its staffers tested positive for the coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.

According to a statement on Tuesday, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno ordered the temporary closure of the emergency room of the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) from 7 a.m. of April 28 to 7 a.m. of May 5.

This will give time for the general cleaning and disinfection operations of the hospital, Moreno said.

Those who were infected with COVID-19 were four doctors, a radiology technologist, a medical technologist, and two nurses.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ted Martin, GABMMC director, said that the hospital’s outpatient services and dialysis center would remain open.

“The hospital is not on lockdown. We still have admitted patients under our care,” Martin said.  “Since the hospital is only closed for admission, all incoming patients will be referred to the other five city hospitals with proper coordination. No direct admissions will be entertained.”

Patients with incoming surgical and medical cases will be referred to the Ospital ng Maynila.

Meanwhile, incoming patients seeking consultation with the obstetrics-gynecology and pediatrics departments will be referred to the Ospital ng Sampaloc, the Ospital ng Tondo, or the  Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital.

Currently, the Philippines has 7,958 COVID-19 patients, of whom 975 have recovered and 530 have died.

In Manila, there are 509 COVID-19 patients.

/atm