ILOILO – Twenty-eight employees of the Rep. Pedro Trono Memorial District Hospital (RPTMDH) in Guimbal town have fallen sick with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). They were immediately quarantined at the hospital’s isolation facility.
Some exhibited symptoms like sore throat.
The RPTMDH had since been placed on lockdown for 10 days beginning Dec. 24.
Dr. Cynthia Cabangal-Ng, chief of the provincial government’s Hospital Management Office, suspects that protocols may have been breached.
“Posible wala nasunod sang insakto ang protocol sa pag-manage sang COVID-19 positive (cases) ukon may lapses man sa pagsuksok sang personal protective equipment sang staff,” said Ng, who oversees all district hospitals in the province.
She described healthcare workers, especially those assigned as medical frontliners, as “high risk” for COVID-19 infection because they directly deal with patients.
COVID-19 spreads from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
Ng urged healthcare workers to constantly revisit safety protocols.
Determining if a case is a COVID patient or non-COVID patient is crucial, stressed Ng for better medical response.
On Dec. 23, 15 hospital workers were initially found positive for COVID-19.
This prompted the RPTMDH to conduct contact tracing, where 30 more employees were swabbed; 13 of them were found to be infected.
According to Ng, it was still unclear how these hospital staff contracted the viral illness.
“Posible nga nasudlan [ang hospital] halin sa gwa or halin dira mismo sa sulod,” said Ng.
At least 32 more hospital personnel will have their specimens collected for testing this Tuesday.
“Gina-imbestigaran naton subong kag gina–id-id ang mga protocols not only in Guimbal but in all district hospitals,” Ng said.
With contact tracing and thorough disinfection currently on going, Ng disclosed plans to transfer RPTMDH’s 10 non-COVID patients to the Aleosan District Hospital in Alimodian town or to the San Joaquin Mother and Child District Hospital in San Joaquin./PN
