Dr. Ted Herbosa, a medical adviser to the National Task Force Against (NTF) COVID-19, said the Philippines has not lost its battle against the pandemic yet as hospitals are still open.
“Hindi pa nagsasara [ang mga ospital], lumalaban pa so hindi pa talo,” he said. “Habang hindi nagsasara ang mga ospital na yan, may laban tayo at makaka-save pa tayo ng buhay.”
(Hospitals have yet to close down. As long as they are not stopping their operations, the fight is still on and we can still save lives.)
Herbosa’s statement came after Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) President Dr. Jaime Almora said the country already lost its battle against COVID-19 as hospitals are already “overwhelmed and overran.”
“Sabi lang yan [na talo na], wala pa naman akong nadinig na ospital na nagsara, kasi masasabi mong talo na yan pag nagsara na yung ospital,” he said.
(That we lost the battle is just a claim because I haven’t heard of a hospital that shut down its operations. You can say the fight is lost if the hospital stops operating.)
NTF adviser says PH’s fight vs. COVID-19 not yet lost
However, the NTF adviser admitted that many hospitals in National Capital Region (NCR) are experiencing overcrowding of COVID-19 patients.
“We are in a period of what’s called surge capacity, over capacity na yung ating mga health system (our health system is already over capacity),” the NTF adviser said.
An earlier report stated that a senior citizen with COVID-19 died right outside the emergency room of a hospital in Metro Manila while waiting to be admitted.
The elderly tested positive for COVID-19 on March 16 and tried to recover at home. However, when his oxygen level became low, his family rushed him to hospitals but none accepted him because they are allegedly full.
The man died around 5:20 a.m. on March 28, while waiting on a stretcher.
A similar scenario happened to singer Claire Dela Fuente who stayed at a tent outside a hospital in Las Piñas while waiting to be admitted.
Dela Fuente died of cardiac arrest yesterday, March 30.