Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 17) — The Lung Center of the Philippines said on Sunday it has recorded a recovery rate of around 40 percent among its coronavirus patients.
“Kahit 20 percent po ang aming mortality (Even if our mortality is at 20 percent), ang aming recovery po ay nasa bandang 40 percent (our recovery is at around 40 percent). It’s twice as much so this a good news, a good sign na mas marami po kaming nakikita (that we see more) recovery pa rin kaysa (than) mortality,” LCP Spokesperson Dr. Norberto Francisco told CNN Philippines’ Newsroom Weekend.
The hospital has handled 2,188 COVID-19 related cases so far, and 295 of these are confirmed for the disease, he said.
The Lung Center is among the country’s COVID-19 referral hospitals as announced earlier by the Department of Health. It specifically handles severe and complicated coronavirus cases, explained Francisco.
In response to the pandemic, the hospital had shifted to an incident command system, which Francisco likened to a medical emergency mode. It has adopted this approach to better protect health workers and provide medical service to Filipinos in need at the same time, he said.
According to Francisco, among the measures taken by the LCP is retrofitting the hospital to better address coronavirus cases.
“Ang hospital natin, hindi lang Lung Center, pati lahat ng hospital, naka-design po yan sa general medical care. Pero alam naman nating lahat, ibang-iba ang sitwasyon ngayong COVID,” he said.
[Translation: All hospitals, not just Lung Center, have been designed for general medical care. But we all know the situation nowadays is different with COVID(-19).]
LCP has since dedicated six out of its eight wings for coronavirus patients, said Francisco. Meanwhile, the two remaining wings are for patients with general lung conditions such as cancer, drug-resistant tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma, he explained.
Francisco added that the hospital had also installed additional CCTV cameras, telemetry machines, plastic curtains to replace isolation room doors so that medical personnel may monitor coronavirus patients at all times with minimal personal contact.
Call for donations
Despite all these measures, the Lung Center still seeks additional personal protective equipment for its workers, said Francisco, adding they are using 500 to 600 PPEs on a daily basis.
“We have to make sure we have stocks for at least three months. Ang target po natin (Our target) is, ang pinaghahandaan namin (what we prepare for) in forecasting is always for the next 3-4 months, hindi kami mawalan ng (we won’t run out of) supply,” he explained.
The hospital needs isolation gowns and N95 masks in particular, added Francisco.
Donations may be dropped off at the hospital’s delivery area, while those who are unable to bring them personally may contact LCP instead. They shall find a way to transport the donations, he said.
Francisco added that the Department of Public Works and Highways and other government agencies are also assisting the Lung Center in transporting these donations.
The Philippines currently has 12,305 confirmed cases of COVID-19. 817 have died from the disease, while 2,561 have recovered from it.
