ILOILO City – St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo (SPHI) on General Luna Street went on lockdown last night after six of its doctors contracted the virus SARS-CoV-2 which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). All asymptomatic, they were immediately quarantined, according to Mayor Jerry Treñas.
The six doctors were part of the 26 new cases that the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 confirmed yesterday and brought to 274 the total cases in Western Visayas.
The COVID-19-positive hospital doctors were the following:
* 31-year-old male from Jaro district (Patient No. 265)
* 29-year-old male from Mandurriao district (Patient No. 266)
* 29-year-old female from Jaro (Patient No. 267)
* 27-year-old from Oton, Iloilo (Patient No. 268)
* 42-year-old male from Jaro (Patient No. 269)
* 53-year-old male from La Paz (Patient No. 270)
“I have coordinated with the hospital director. They are observing all the necessary protocols to ensure the safety of everyone in the hospital,” said Treñas.
Contact tracing was immediately launched by the hospital in coordination with the City Health Office, he said.
Hospital staff yet to go home yesterday were advised to stay put in the hospital in line with the lockdown for their COVID tests today. Those who have gone home already yesterday were told to strictly observe home quarantine.
Nobody’s allowed to enter the hospital except for healthcare workers with scheduled duties.
According to Atty. Roy Villa, spokesperson of the regional inter-agency task force for COVID-19, notwithstanding the lockdown the hospital remains in operation; confined patients are assured of continued medical care.
The hospital, however, decided to temporarily close its Operating Room, Outpatient Department and Emergency Room, said Villa.
The virus-infected physicians included five resident doctors (four Internal Medicine and one Surgery) and a Family Medicine consultant, according to a hospital source who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.
The doctors may have contracted the virus from a patient at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the source said.
The ICU patient’s initial rapid test was negative for SARS-CoV-2. In the subsequent reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction test conducted, however, the patient was positive for the virus, said the source.
‘WE SHALL OVERCOME’
In a statement, the SPHI management assured the public it had “protocols and processes to address the results of the said tests.”
Infection control protocols were also being strictly followed “to ensure the safety of everyone working, confined in, or visiting the hospital,” it added.
Here’s the hospital’s official statement in full:
“Our staff selflessly and professionally care for and attend to the needs of our patients, notwithstanding the health risks that are inherent in their chosen profession. We salute them, especially our SPHI COVID team, doctors and personnel for their professionalism, dedication, and compassion.
“We have always strictly complied with the Department of Health (DOH) directives to conduct reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing among all our healthcare workers. We have protocols and processes to address the results of the said tests.
“Positive results are managed and contact tracing is done by the SPHI COVID Task Force in accordance with government guidelines.
“Our protocols for infection control have always been in place and strictly followed. These are in accordance with accepted standards to address the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of everyone working, confined in, or visiting the hospital.
“With God’s grace we shall all overcome COVID-19. God bless us all.”
St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo is a tertiary level training general hospital with a capacity of 265 beds. It was founded by the religious order Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres from France in 1911.
WV CASES SURGE
The six hospital doctors were part of the 26 new cases recorded in Western Visayas – the highest number of cases recorded in a single day, according to Dr. Ma. Sophia Pulmones, chief of DOH Region 6’s Local Health Support Division. These brought to 274 the total cases in the region.
The 20 other new cases recorded were the following (either locally stranded individuals or LSIs or repatriated overseas Filipino workers or OFWs):
* 23-year-old female from Himamaylan, Negros Occidental, LSI
* 24-year-old female from Bacolod City, LSI
* 48-year-old female from Sibunag, Guimaras, LSI
* 24-year-old female from Bacolod City, LSI
* 29-year-old male from Bacolod City, LSI
* 46-year-old female from Bacolod City, LSI
* 28-year-old female from Pototan, Iloilo, LSI
* 28-year-old male from Zarraga, Iloilo, LSI
* 27-year-old male from Batad, Iloilo, LSI
* 27-year-old male from Zarraga, Iloilo, LSI
* 31-year-old male from Estancia, Iloilo, LSI
* 28-year-old male from Bacolod City, LSI
* 28-year-old male from Bacolod City, LSI
* 25-year-old male from San Dionisio, LSI
* 28-year-old male from Passi City, Iloilo, OFW
* 39-year-old female from City Proper, Iloilo City, OFW
* 53-year-old female from Bacolod City, LSI
* 22-year-old female from Bacolod City, LSI
* 21-year-old male from Bacolod City, LSI
* 61-year-old male from Bacolod City, OFW
All these patients were asymptomatic and under facility quarantine.
Of the region’s 274 cases, Pulmones said, 125 already recovered while 11 died, bringing the active cases to 125.
Here’s the breakdown of the 274 cases – Aklan, six; Antique, 14; Capiz, six; Guimaras, zero; Iloilo province, 24; Negros Occidental, three; Bacolod City, 11; Iloilo City, 25; and repatriates, 185./PN
