BAUKO, Mountain Province – The administration of the Luis Hora Regional Memorial Hospital disclosed it has available rooms that could be used as isolation areas for persons under Investigation (PUIs) with moderate to severe symptoms and confirmed Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cases not only from the province but also from different parts of the region in case there will be an unprecedented surge in cases within the next several months.
LHRMH medical center chief Dr. Eduardo Calpito said the hospital will initially make available 4 rooms for severe cases and 8 rooms for moderate cases based on the prevailing standards of the health department on the classification of PUIs.
However, he pointed out that in case there will be a surge in the number of PUIs, the hospital could make available 20 rooms for moderate cases and some 15 rooms for isolation areas for moderate cases.
Calpito claimed that currently, there are 9 PUIs from the different towns of Mountain Province and as far as Banaue, Ifugao who have mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms who are undergoing medical supervision in the hospital, and that all the confined patients are in stable condition awaiting their test results although there are yet no confirmed COVID-19 cases in the whole province.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed there will be no COVID-19 cases in the province although the cases are expected to peak in the next several months. We will continue to remain vigilant on what is happening around us so that we will always be ready for any eventuality,” Dr. Calpito stressed.
The LHRMH is a 200-bed health facility based in this upland municipality directly supervised by the health department.
The medical center chief explained the hospital is striving to make sure it has sufficient supply of personal protect equipment (PPEs) through their coordination with the concerned government agencies and the local governments.
According to him, health authorities are constantly providing the different health facilities in the different parts of the country with the needed updates on the COVID-19 situation for them to be appraised on the latest developments in the global, national, regional and local scenes to make them aware of the appropriate preparations for the projected surge in cases in the next several months.
Calpito expressed confidence that with the full cooperation of the people of Mountain Province to the strict rules and regulations governing the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine, particularly the policy for people to stay in their homes, the spread of the contagious virus could be significantly reduced as there will be reduced exposure of the public to the virus.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte placed Luzon under enhanced community quarantine aside from declaring the whole country under a state of calamity upon the recommendation of the Inter-agency Task Force on the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases to prevent the further spread of the deadly virus which started in China and started rapidly spreading in the different parts of the world.
By Hent