As COVID-19 cases surge: Doctor warns breakdown of health system

CEBU, Philippines —  Coronavirus patients are filling up the hospital emergency room and more are queuing along the corridors jostling to be attended to.

An everyday scene in a private hospital in Cebu City for the past few weeks that has morphed into history.

Veronica Floro, a resident doctor of a private hospitals catering to COVID-19 patients, said the surge in patients and demand for health care services due to the COVID-19 pandemic is now unimaginable.

Floro said the increase in number of patients has skyrocketed after Cebu City and other areas in Cebu were placed under the less restrictive general community quarantine (GCQ) from June 1 to 15.

She said they have been attending to 40 to 50 COVID-19 patients a day for the past seven days, for instance.

In fact, she said the hospital’s entire emergency room was converted into a COVID E.R. to accommodate more patients with coronavirus-like symptoms.

“Grabe kadaghan gyud sa patients. Naa na sa hallways and uban naa sa gawas,” she said.

If the situation continues, she said, the health care system will collapse.

“…di na kaya sa atong health care system. Overwhelmed na kaayo among system with the increasing patients,” she said.

She said the health system is now stretched to its limit.

The ballooning number of patients is also causing delays in the test results, especially that the hospital needs to send lab tests to the Department of Health (DOH) for confirmation. Hospitals with non-accredited laboratories are required to send lab tests to DOH.

She also shared how “scary” it was to witness COVID patients die, even worse than those who died of hemorrhagic stroke.

Floro and other healthcare workers dread going to work every day, likening it to going into battle.

She said nurses, for example, are working long hours even with a meager salary.

“We are overworked and understaffed but quitting is not an option right now. We are scared and tired but we will continue serving the public,” said Floro.

This, she asked the public to religiously follow the quarantine rules, including the stay-at-home order, to help limit the spread of the virus and reduce the load on hospitals and healthcare workers.

“Follow the protocols and help prevent the medical system from crumbling. Everyone needs to extend a helping hand. Otherwise, hospitals would break down,” she said.  KQD (FREEMAN)