BAGUIO CITY (PIA)– The Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center affirmed that in spite of the surge of admission of corona virus cases for the month of September, COVID-19 case management in the facility remains manageable.
BGHMC Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Thea Pamela Cajulao, in the PIA Cordillera- led Kapihan media forum Thursday (Oct. 14), said the month of September set a record high in COVID–19 admission with 704 , 57% percent higher compared to the previous high of 447 cases recorded in April 2021.
The BGHMC has a 300 bed capacity dedicated for COVID–19 cases and the occupancy rate for September ranged from 87.27 % to as high as 108.5% and there are cases that belong to the same family who occupied the same isolation room, Cajulao said.
BGHMC also recorded an increase in fatality as most of the patients admitted were already under severe and critical state when they came to the hospital and many of the fatalities were also tagged as dead on arrival. There were 142 deaths in September, more than double the previous high of 64 deaths, also recorded last April.
Cajulao also confirmed that there are BGHMC personnel including nurses and medical officers who were infected with COVID–19, but this has not affected the case management of the hospital.
She reported that a contingency plan has been in place in terms of bed capacity. BGHMC has expanded to 300 the dedicated beds for COVID–19 cases and recently purchased a booster for their oxygen generator. There are still enough medicines in the hospital, she assured.
Meanwhile, the BGHMC Molecular Laboratory for COVID–19 RT – PCR test is also continuously working at optimum performance with enough testing kits and manpower. In September, the lab has tested a total of 52,456 samples of which 49,863 were from Cordillera and 2,593 were from Region 1.
Cajulao reiterated the advisory to the public to have better health behavior, maintain compliance with the minimum public health standards and to have themselves vaccinated to prevent severe illness and death from COVID–19. **JDP/CCD-PIA CAR
