LUCENA CITY (PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The continuous surge of new Covid-19 cases in the Philippines has caused two more hospitals to temporarily close its wards dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.
Both were hospitals in the Quezon province, to the south-east of Philippine capital Manila.
On Friday (Sept 10), the government-owned Gumaca District Hospital in Gumaca town announced that its rooms for Covid-19 patients reached full capacity.
"We will do our best to accommodate you. Emergency cases will be stabilised and referred to other hospitals. (But) with a heavy heart, admission is not guaranteed," Dr Sonny Ching, the hospital's chief, said in a post on social media.
On Thursday, the Magsaysay Memorial District Hospital, another government-run medical facility issued a similar public advisory.
"Despite our continuous efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, we still recorded a significant increase in the number of infection rate among health care workers, particularly with our front-line personnel," the hospital administration said on its Facebook page.
The hospital urged patients with Covid-19 symptoms to seek care and treatment in other medical facilities.
In August, the Mount Carmel Diocesan General Hospital and the Lucena United Doctors Hospital (LUDHMC) and Medical Centre, two of the biggest private medical facilities in the province, also announced that their Covid-19 wards are already at full capacity.
The LUDHMC also informed the public that its laboratories will not be accepting walk-in patients for RT-PCR testing as the schedule was fully booked.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office recorded 203 new cases on Sept 10 amid the lingering threats from the highly contagious Delta variant.
As at Friday, Quezon, which remains under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until Sept 30, reported 2,311 active cases, a rise from only 705 on July 23.
The Philippines on Saturday reported a record 26,303 daily coronavirus cases. The health ministry said the country's confirmed cases rose to 2.206 million, while deaths rose by 79 to 34,978.
