Moreno orders temporary closure of Ospital ng Maynila as virus hit workers

Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center. Photo from Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — The Ospital ng Maynila will be temporarily shut down starting Thursday after at least 15 of its medical workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

In a statement, Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said the tentative closure will be until August 9 so that sanitation activities may be done in the hospital. He also said the identification of other healthcare workers who may have been exposed to SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, will likewise be conducted.

According to Moreno, some 58 people came in close contact with those infected.

Because of the hospital’s temporary closure, all its services— except for laboratory operations (including daily swabbing and IgG Serology), radiology, animal bite treatment center (for follow up only), extreme emergency, and telemedicine— will be suspended, Moreno said.

As for those admitted in the hospital, Moreno said other hospital staff will continue to attend to their needs. However, incoming patients will be referred to other city government-owned hospitals, he added.

KGA