MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police General Hospital at Camp Crame has been swamped with COVID-19 patients as the PNP recorded 162 additional cases yesterday.
Sources, who asked not to be named, said the hospital is struggling to cope with the influx of patients since the National Capital Region has been hit by another surge in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
One of the sources said the hospital’s emergency room is always full of COVID-19 patients.
“Punuan parati sa emergency room,” the source said in an interview.
There are 23 beds for COVID-19 cases, including four pediatric beds, which are always occupied.
At least 10 patients waited for admission to the medical facility yesterday.
There were at least 1,814 active COVID-19 cases in the police force as of yesterday. Ninety-eight have succumbed to the disease.
The PNP said 32,919 police personnel have been infected with the virus since last year.
The recovery rate remains high at 94.19 percent as 31,007 of the patients have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile, the PNP vowed to give assistance to the baby of a policewoman who died after contracting COVID-19 last week.
The 31-year-old police officer gave birth to a baby boy through ceasarian section on Aug. 10. She died of COVID-19 on Aug. 13 due to acute respiratory failure.
Eleazar ordered police commanders to ensure that pregnant policewomen are able to work from home.
“They should not be exposed to COVID-19. Delikado para sa kanila ang ma-deploy in the field at ma-expose sa virus. Dapat unahin natin ang kanilang kaligtasan at kalusugan pati ng batang kanilang dinadala,” he said.
Eleazar reminded police commanders that pregnancy is among the COVID-19 risk factors along with age, underlying medical conditions and a compromised immune system.
“Pregnancy makes women more susceptible to COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses,” he said.
“Hindi natin pababayaan ang bagong silang na sanggol ng ating policewoman na nagbigay ng serbisyo sa bayan,” Eleazar added.
Pasig hospitals near full capacity
Meanwhile, hospitals in Pasig are starting to become full with patients infected with COVID-19 as the city has recorded over 1,000 active cases, Mayor Vico Sotto said.
“Based on the trend we are seeing now, cases of COVID-19 will still increase in the next few days. That’s why we need to tighten health protocols,” Sotto said in an interview on dzBB.
Over 200,000 Pasig residents have been fully vaccinated. – Neil Jayson Servallos