ILOILO – Two healthcare workers and an employee of the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Four areas of the hospital were immediately locked down on Wednesday to stop the virus from spreading.
Of the three infected personnel, one was a nurse assigned in a non-COVID emergency room, one was a radiologist and another was an institutional worker, according to Dr. Stephanie Abello, chief pathologist of the WVMC sub-national laboratory where the region’s COVID-19 tests are conducted.
Abello said they temporarily sealed off the St. Anthony ward, St. Augustine ward, portions of the non-COVID emergency room and radiology department to allow decontamination and restrict movement while contract tracing is ongoing.
“Once ma-decontaminate ang mga areas, mabalik man ila operation,” Abello added.
Over 51 contacts of the three WVMC personnel have so far been traced and specimens were collected from them for analysis.
Abello clarified that notwithstanding the lockdown, the hospital remains in operation.
She said makeshift tents were installed outside the WVMC to assure patients of continued medical care.
Meanwhile, Dr. Joseph Dean Nicolo, chief of WVMC, issued an advisory to the Provincial Health Office and district hospitals in Iloilo province and other parts of Region 6 to suspend the issuance of referrals.
“Nakahatag sang letter si Dr. Nicolo nga kon puede [ang mga patients] dira lang anay sa mga district hospitals. Kon indi gid masarangan kag kinahanglan gid nga i-refer sa Western, may makeshift tent sa sagwa nga maka-accommodate,” said Abello.
She disclosed that the hospital has yet to determine the source of infection of the three cases.
“Sa subong gina-trace kon diin gid ang source. Puede nga community acquired or sa patient,” Abello furthered.
To recall, a portion of WVMC’s medical/surgical ward went on a one-day lockdown on July 10 after a 13-year-old boy patient tested positive for COVID-19.
Also, more than a week ago, a portion of the hospital’s orthopedic ward was locked down after a 72-year-old male patient from Igbaras, Iloilo was found infected with COVID-19.
COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China in December 2019./PN
