With COVID hospitals ‘full,’ Naga patient awaits transfer

Naga City Mayor Chiong said the patient is now no.12 in VSMMC waiting list

The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City is the largest medical facility here that caters to COVID-19 cases. CDN file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A city hall employee in Naga City, Cebu, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to await transfer to a tertiary medical facility as hospitals catering to COVID-19 cases are “full,” the city government reported on Saturday evening, June 13, 2020.

The patient, tagged as PN-07, is a 50-year-old man from Purok Danggit in Barangay Tuyan, who visited Carbon Public Market in Cebu City prior to experiencing fever, cough, and colds. His swab samples were taken last June 9 and have since undergone home isolation.

PN-07 is now at the city-managed quarantine facility in Barangay South Poblacion and is currently with oxygen support.

Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong said the City Health Officer has recommended for the patient to be transferred into a tertiary hospital. However, the patient has not been transferred yet as the Talisay District Hospital and the private hospitals that can cater to COVID-19 patients are currently full.

Read: More symptomatic patients among new COVID case

PN-07 is also number 12 on the waiting list in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Chiong said.

“Sa pagkakaron, padayon ang pag-contact sa uban pang hospitals nga pwede makadawat niya,” the mayor said in her update  that was posted on Saturday evening

(At present, we continue to contact other hospitals that can cater to him.)

This Sunday morning, June 14, the city’s Public Information Office confirmed to CDN Digital that the city is still looking for a hospital to get the patient transferred.

Read: Cebu City hospitals run out of beds for COVID-19 patients

Meanwhile, the second COVID-19 patient reported in the city on Saturday is the 37-year-old wife of the previously confirmed patient from Barangay Balirong.

Together with their four children, the patient had stayed in the city’s isolation facility in Barangay Inoburan since June 9 after her husband, who works as a plumber in a private hospital in the city, tested positive for the infection.

All four children tested negative for the virus and have been sent home while their mother has been transferred to the city’s quarantine facility in Barangay South Poblacion. / dcb