PGH halts emergency room admissions amid more COVID-19 patients
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital has put on hold admission in its emergency room as the country's largest COVID-19 referral facility continues to see more coronavirus patients.
PGH in an advisory on Tuesday said it is now tending to 100 more of the infected from its original capacity of only 230 patients.
It added most of those admitted need intensive care, high-flow oxygen, as well as ventilators.
"Our patients and our staff will only be put at risk if we continue allowing more cases," the hospital said in Filipino.
PUBLIC ADVISORY: Pansamantalang hindi muna tatanggap ng pasyente ang PGH ER pic.twitter.com/ds73sRnzBy
— UP MANILA (Official) (@UPManilaOnline) August 24, 2021
PGH did not say until when the suspension would be. But its move came less than two weeks since it also restricted admitting non-COVID patients.
At the time, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said there were 262 admitted cases — the highest in 18 months it has been a referral facility.
In a text message to Philstar.com, Del Rosario said they can now only treat those with "life and limb threatening" emergencies.
The status of COVID-19 patients in the PGH such as how many are now in its intensive care unit was not immediately available. On August 15, Del Rosario said all their 40 allocated ICU beds were occupied.
"We apologize and ask for the public's understanding," PGH's advisory continued in Filipino.
The hospital instead advised individuals to reach their Transfer Command Center, which operates from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Philippines continues to see significant increase in coronavirus cases that experts said the Delta variant may be factoring in.
On August 23, health officials tallied 18,332 new infections, the highest daily rise since the pandemic hit in 2020.
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