PGH COVID-19 wards becoming full —former NTF adviser

The COVID-19 ward of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is becoming full, a former adviser of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said Monday. 

In a public briefing, Dr. Ted Herbosa, a former NTF adviser and incumbent professor of emergency medicine and trauma surgery at UP-PGH, said that an average of five to six individuals test positive for COVID-19 in the hospital while their emergency patients reach 80 to 90 per day.

“Napupuno din ‘yung aming COVID ward kasi kinontian na lang namin ‘yung aming COVID ward nu'ng bumaba ang mga kaso. Pero umpisa nang napupuno ito. So initially, may mga isa o dalawang naiiwan,” Herbosa said.

[Our COVID-19 wards are also becoming full because we reduced the number of beds there when the COVID-19 cases decreased. But it’s starting to become full. So initially, there were sometimes one or two beds left.]

Despite this, he said that most of the COVID-19 cases are not serious, especially those vaccinated.

“Pero 'yung mga cases natin, hindi na masyadong serious, lalo na ‘yung mga nabakunahan. 'Pag sila ay vaccinated, talagang malaki ang effect na mild lang ang kaso nila at nakakauwi agad sila from the hospital,” he said.

[But our cases are not really that serious, especially those vaccinated. If they are vaccinated, they will have mild symptoms and they can go home immediately from the hospital.]

Herbosa called on the public to wear face masks and get their booster shots against COVID-19.

“Marami kasi nakakita na parang hindi na serious ‘yung Omicron, ayaw na magpa-third dose or magpa-booster dose. Recommended pa rin namin na sana magpa-booster ‘yung hindi pa nagpapa booster, lalo na ‘yung 50 years old and above,” he said.

[It seems that a lot of people don’t want to get boosted anymore after they saw that Omicron is not that serious. We still recommend getting boosted, especially those aged 50 years and above.]

The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday recorded 2,321 new COVID-19 cases, increasing the total nationwide caseload to 3,891,418.

Based on the DOH’s latest data, the country’s active cases slightly increased to 24,067 from 23,571 on Saturday.

However, this is the eighth straight day with fewer than 30,000 active infections.

The number of recoveries climbed to 3,805,340 while the death toll rose by 49 to 62,011. —KG, GMA News