Isko shuts down hospital as 5 staff get COVID

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Saturday night ordered the closure of the Sampaloc Hospital after five of its frontliners tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Moreno stopped the hospital’s operations to give way to the disinfection of the medical facility and allow the frontliners to recover after attending to COVID-19 patients, who could have transmitted the virus.

According to the city public information office, 14 doctors, eight nurses and seven administrative personnel of the hospital are undergoing quarantine as they are considered persons under investigation (PUIs) amid exposure to COVID-19.

Moreno said if the health workers were not isolated, the virus may spread among them.

He assured the public that other government-run hospitals in the city would remain open.

Moreno said patients seeking medical attention may proceed to the Ospital ng Tondo, Ospital ng Maynila, Gat Andres Bonifacio Medical Center and Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital.

Manila has recorded 18 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the number to 156 with 305 PUIs .

Twenty-five people have died of COVID-19 and 14 others recovered from the disease. 

Kadiwa stores

The Manila government will deploy Kadiwa on wheels outlets to different barangays in the city to make agricultural products available to the residents during the enhanced community quarantine.

The city’s public information office said the project would be launched at around 7 a.m. today at the Lambingan ferry station in front of Thomas Earnshaw Elementary School in Barangay 896.

Kadiwa stores will also be set up in Punta, Sta. Ana and Barangays 903 and 905.

The Kadiwa stores were activated in Tondo and Sampaloc last year.

The city government partnered with the Department of Agriculture to connect farmers directly to the consumers.

Moreno said the products would be sold at cheaper prices.