DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental- Forty-three (43) nurses and medical personnel from two private hospitals here where the public official who tested positive for the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) was admitted, are now under quarantine.
Dr. Brenda Diputado of the ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital in a press briefing on Thursday morning, March 12, 2020, said there are 20 nurses placed under isolation at the hospital where the patient was first admitted.
Meanwhile, Jessica Estrellado, a nurse of the Silliman University Medical Center Infection Prevention and Control where the patient was transferred, said there are 23 nurses and medical staff who are isolated.
“They are not technically PUM’s because these nurses are not caring for the patient. It just so happen that they are ICU nurses. But we want to take very extreme measures to contain the virus that’s why we are advising them to stay in the hospital,” Estrellado said.
According to Estrellado, 20 nurses have direct contact with the patient while 15 other nurses and medical staff were inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.
On the other hand, amid rumors that the patient has died, Dr. Kenneth Coo, President of the Philippine College of Physicians and Chairman for the Crisis Preparedness and Management committee told CDN Digital that the patient is alive although in critical condition.
“The patient is hanging on. Unfortunately, he is a kidney transplant patient, so because of the co-morbid condition the patient is very critical right now. We hope the kidney is also holding on. Because of the nature of the infection, there’s a possibility the kidney will deteriorate also because of the kidney transplant case,” Coo said. /rcg