The PGH had temporarily stopped accepting walk-in admissions for its outpatient department, according to its spokesperson.
The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) had temporarily stopped accepting walk-in admissions for its outpatient department amidst the increase in the number of COVID-19 patients at the hospital and the detection of COVID-19 among its personnel, its spokesperson said on Monday.
According to PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario, there were 102 COVID-19 patients at the hospital and 15 healthcare workers inflicted with coronavirus disease on the first days of March 2021 — including four members of the hospital’s anesthesia department.
Del Rosario also said that the South African COVID-19 variant was also detected among one of the 30 samples sent by the hospital for genome sequencing.
Furthermore, he said that some 80 healthcare workers at the Philippine General Hospital were ordered to undergo quarantine after exposure to patients with COVID-19.
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When asked to confirm if the Philippine General Hospital had temporarily stopped accepting patients for its outpatient department, del Rosario told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo that they had opted to not allow walk-ins at the PGH because healthcare workers becoming sick and the threat of the more transmissible variants.
“Dahil nga sa tumataas ang bilang ng admissions tapos marami-raming healthcare workers namin ang nagkasakit, at may banta na itong variants na ito na mabilis kumalat, minabuti muna namin na huwag muna payagan ‘yung walk-ins sa PGH. Ang ginagawa po namin ngayon kailangan muna nila magpa-schedule online at meron pong tinatawag na telemedicine. Makikipag-usap muna po sila sa mga doktor bago po sila pumunta sa PGH para medyo mabawasan ‘yung traffic at masiguro namin na ang mga pupunta doon ay walang posible na COVID,” del Rosario said.
Del Rosario said that those who didn’t have access to the internet may contact the PGH via its 155-200 hotline.
Meanwhile, he noted that the 102 COVID-19 patients at the hospital were higher than the 60-70 total admissions in the previous two weeks. Del Rosario also said that around 10 additional COVID-19 patients were being admitted at the Philippine General Hospital daily in the last five days.
According to Del Rosario, COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca had been delivered to the Philippine General Hospital early Monday morning for the continuation of vaccination for its frontliners.
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