ILOILO – Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) did not spare healthcare providers and workers in the towns of Pototan and Miag-ao.
As of yesterday, the number of infected medical personnel at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital (IPH) in Barangay Rumbang, Pototan and Rural Health Unit of Miag-ao swelled to 15 and 8, respectively.
In the IPH, nine nurses, five nursing attendants and one doctor contracted the viral disease.
They were all asymptomatic and currently on home quarantine, provincial administrator Atty. Suzette Mamon said.
According to Mamon, the hospital’s index case was a doctor who tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 29. An aggressive contact tracing had since been conducted.
Fifteen close contacts were detected and subjected to swabbing. On Feb. 2, it was confirmed that four of them caught the virus.
Nineteen closed contacts were swabbed after another round of contact tracing.
On Feb. 4, 10 health workers were found infected with the virus.
As of this writing, a total of 15 hospital personnel have COVID-19.
More or less 30 close contacts – including six patients – have been identified and swabbed. Results are yet to be released.
Dr. Cynthia Cabangal-Ng, chief of the provincial government’s Hospital Management Office, said they have yet to determine the source of infection.
Health authorities suspect that the medical workers acquired the virus from either their community or in the hospital.
On the other hand, there were now eight infected health personnel in the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of Miag-ao.
According to Mayor Macario Napulan, the RHU’s index case was a female health worker who was found positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 1.
Twenty close contacts had been identified and tested.
Results were released on Feb. 2 and seven medical personnel were found positive.
More or less 50 close contacts underwent swab testing yesterday. Results were likewise pending.
“Since nga may nag-positive kita days ago so ang direct contact ya nga first batch nga mga 20 ka bilog gin-swab. Out of that number, pito ang nag-positive. So, kay pito ang nag-positive tanan na lang nga mga health personnel ginpa-swab naton,” Napulan said in an interview with Panay News.
The mayor added that the infected health personnel – all asymptomatic – were currently on either home or facility quarantine.
Healthcare workers, especially those assigned as medical frontliners, were said to be “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.
ON LOCKDOWN
Following the infections at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital, the provincial government and the hospital’s management locked down the orthopedic and surgical wards, where most of the health workers were assigned.
Miag-ao’s RHU, meanwhile, has been temporarily shut.
“Subong temporaryo nga gin-close naton ang aton health center until such time nga ma-swab naton ang tanan nga mga health personnel and maka-conduct sang disinfection,” Napulan told Panay News.
He added that the RHU may be reopened on Monday, Feb. 8.
The lockdown on the said health facilities will give way to a massive disinfection and contact tracing.
STILL IN OPERATION
Despite the temporary closure, Napulan said the public can still access health services through tele-consultation.
Those in need of medical services may contact the RHU via its hotline or the health personnel’s mobile numbers.
Residents may also seek assistance from their Barangay Health Workers and midwives in communicating with the RHU.
In case of emergency, an ambulance is already on standby, Napulan said.
The hospital in Pototan, on the other hand, will still be operation as its management will be maximizing their manpower, according to Mamon./PN
