Guimbal hospital on lockdown after 13 staff nurses, 2 others contract COVID-19

• 15 personnel of Rep. Pedro Trono Memorial District Hospital in Guimbal, Iloilo positive for COVID-19.

• Provincial Hospital Management Office placed the hospital in lockdown until January 3, 2021.

A district hospital in Guimbal, Iloilo was placed in lockdown after 15 of its personnel, mostly nurses tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

UPDATE 12/28/2020: Fourteen more hospital staff tested positive for COVID-19.

In an interview over Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, Dr. Cynthia Cabangal-Ng, head of Provincial Hospital Management Office, confirmed that the Rep. Pedro Trono Memorial District Hospital was locked down starting 6:30 PM of Thursday, December 24 until January 3, 2021.

Cabangal-Ng said that out of 15 new COVID-19 cases, 13 are staff nurses with one nursing attendant and a social worker. Six of the nurses were exhibiting mild symptoms and were already isolated in the hospital.

These workers underwent RT-PCR tests last December 22 and 23, she added. They were still investigating where did the transmission come from. Contact tracing and risk assessment to determine the degree of exposure of other personnel and patients are still ongoing in the hospital.

“The exposure is limited only in the COVID area, but those in other wards will undergo risk assessment to determine the degree of their risk of contact with infected staff, and from there we will decide what we will do next,” she said.

Cabangal-Ng added that the hospital’s emergency services are still open but only to stabilize patients. The hospital will not accept any admission.

In her Facebook post, Guimbal Vice Mayor Jennifer Garin Colada said that “most are residents of the Poblacion and will be hospital quarantined.”

“As of now RHU Guimbal is coordinating with the local hospital so as to contain the problems and concerns as much as possible,” she added.