Locked down hospital reopens
Even sans lab results
DOH rule seeks discharge from facility quarantine of asymptomatic persons even if earlier tested Covid19 positive
CITY (July 13) -- St. Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo City reopens today, 14 days after lockdown due to its six resident physicians who tested Covid19 positive.
Dr. Ella Mae Divinagracia, SPH spokesperson, tells reporters the Department of Health (DOH) - Region 6 here has given the religious-run hospital the go-signal to reopen though the results of swab tests of its 1,500 workers are yet to be released.
All those quarantined and tested but remained asymptomatic are presumed 10-14 days after to have recovered and safe from contaminating others, she adds.
“It defeats the purpose. Had the results been released a day after the swabbing, our patients and workers would have been spared the ordeal of being confined that long,” she says.
The DOH “sub-national” laboratory here does not report on its backlog of 2,600 "unprocessed specimens" though it’s been notorious for delays of over a week or two in releasing the results.
“Until now, we are still at a loss who really ordered the lockdown of Saint Paul’s Hospital, a third line of defense in Iloilo for Covid19 emergency care,” Divinagracia rues.
Patients due for release on June 28 extended their confinement due to the sudden lockdown.
There was no written closure order. Police cars just arrived and barricaded the gate, barring exit and entry of people including health workers, recalls Divinagracia.
Neither is there a written order for the reopening of the hospital today. The police simply packed-up and disappeared. PM
DOH rule seeks discharge from facility quarantine of asymptomatic persons even if earlier tested Covid19 positive
CITY (July 13) -- St. Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo City reopens today, 14 days after lockdown due to its six resident physicians who tested Covid19 positive.
Dr. Ella Mae Divinagracia, SPH spokesperson, tells reporters the Department of Health (DOH) - Region 6 here has given the religious-run hospital the go-signal to reopen though the results of swab tests of its 1,500 workers are yet to be released.
All those quarantined and tested but remained asymptomatic are presumed 10-14 days after to have recovered and safe from contaminating others, she adds.
“It defeats the purpose. Had the results been released a day after the swabbing, our patients and workers would have been spared the ordeal of being confined that long,” she says.
The DOH “sub-national” laboratory here does not report on its backlog of 2,600 "unprocessed specimens" though it’s been notorious for delays of over a week or two in releasing the results.
“Until now, we are still at a loss who really ordered the lockdown of Saint Paul’s Hospital, a third line of defense in Iloilo for Covid19 emergency care,” Divinagracia rues.
Patients due for release on June 28 extended their confinement due to the sudden lockdown.
There was no written closure order. Police cars just arrived and barricaded the gate, barring exit and entry of people including health workers, recalls Divinagracia.
Neither is there a written order for the reopening of the hospital today. The police simply packed-up and disappeared. PM
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