More hospitals nearing full capacity

MANILA, Philippines — Most hospitals in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Iloilo have almost reached their full bed capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, according to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc.

PHAPi president Rustico Jimenez said there is a need to decongest hospitals of patients who can be transferred to quarantine facilities, but do not want to.

“These areas have the highest number of cases and are nearing their full capacity. Other areas are still manageable, unless the cases will continue to surge,” Jimenez told The STAR.

Jimenez said there is an immediate need to decongest hospitals by transferring patients who have recovered to step-down quarantine facilities.

He said those who are asymptomatic and have mild symptoms should be placed in isolation centers and not in hospitals.

Jimenez said hospitals are having difficulty transferring patients to isolation facilities as most of them refuse to do so.

“We need the help of government in transferring patients to decongest the hospitals and make space for those who are severe and critical,” he said.

As this developed, The Medical City (TMC) announced that it has reached its full bed capacity for COVID-19 patients despite efforts to re-organize and augment its facilities and manpower.

Earlier, St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig as well as the Makati Medical Center announced that their bed capacity for COVID cases were full.

“We are aware that this is a looming problem, but we cannot go beyond our capacity to take care of COVID-19 patients without posing serious risks to everyone, both COVID and non-COVID patients as well as our hospital staff,” read a statement signed by TMC chief medical officer Rafael Claudio.

He said TMC does not wish to compromise its service to general patients, who have less serious medical needs and now comprise a majority of the hospital’s case load.

The hospital appealed for understanding as it advised the public to consider other institutions for critically-ill COVID-19 patients. 

“We are coordinating with the city government of Pasig for the management of COVID-19 patients on the strength of our existing public-private partnership designating Pasig City Children’s Hospital (PCCH) as a COVID center for ‘moderate’ cases. We are ready to facilitate endorsement if and when we can,” Claudio said.

He gave assurance that TMC’s “quality of care remains uncompromised” as it continues to address the situation.

“We empathize with COVID patients, but we are just as committed to provide quality services and secure the facilities strictly allocated for non-COVID cases, which remain open. Their health needs are just as urgent and important,” he added.

Solidarity calls

Doctors’ groups yesterday called for solidarity amid the soaring COVID-19 cases, saying the virus’ threat is real.

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Philippine College of Chest Physicians, Philippine Pediatric Society and Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians said the government and citizens should join hands as “signs of another surge appear.”

“The rise in cases can no longer be explained by increased testing capacity alone. Deaths are rising and hospitals are filling up even as COVID-19 beds are increased,” the groups said.

They said the soaring cases have increased the demand on the healthcare workforce that “already faces fear, fatigue, anxiety and even stigma.”

The groups warned the Philippines “may become the next global epicenter of COVID-19 unless prompt action is taken by our leaders and the public.”

At a press briefing, PCP vice president Ma. Encarnita Blanco-Limpin said the ballooning number of COVID-19 cases is alarming and real.

“The increase in cases is not only because of the expansion of testing, but there is really an increase in the number of people who are getting sick with COVID-19. As doctors, we see that happening in the hospitals,” Limpin said.

She said the rising death toll, as shown by the increasing utilization rates of COVID-19 wards in hospitals, is also worrisome as this may entail more deaths among the severe and critical patients.

‘Fix your system’

Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the Department of Health (DOH) should fix its system of validation of COVID-19 cases and provide the public with a real picture of the virus transmission.

Latest data from the DOH showed 73,618 people tested positive for COVID-19 as of July 12, but the number of confirmed cases was only 57,006 as of July 13.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said there is a huge case validation backlog of 16,612 cases.

“This means that the actual number of COVID cases is much higher than what is being reported. We are not being given the true picture of COVID-19 transmission in the country. This disturbing development comes amid several public and private hospitals announcing that they have reached full bed capacity for COVID-19 patients,” Reyes said.

“The government failed to emphasize the 7.9 percent cumulative positivity rate, which continues to rise and is above the recommended five percent rate by the World Health Organization,” he said.

Reyes said there were only 17,065 tests done on July 12 involving 16,042 individuals. “This is way below the target of 30,000 tests per day and the so-called 51,000 daily testing capacity. Testing backlog for this day reached 15,121,” he said, adding that the public deserves to know the true extent of infection.

“This can only be done through aggressive testing and by fixing the backlog in validation,” the group said. Neil Jayson Servallos, Rhodina Villanueva