Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease outbreak in the country, the Department of Health (DoH) has reminded hospitals nationwide to prepare for diseases related to the typhoon season.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that it is necessary for hospitals to attend to both patients with COVID-19 as well as patients afflicted with other illnesses.
Vergeire said that it is important for hospitals to establish pathways for COVID and non-COVID patients.
“We will need to be educating our local government units (LGUs) that they should have pathways for non-COVID-19 patients also,” said the health official.
“This refers to services that must continue to be offered by our health facilities despite this COVID-19 crisis,” she added.
Some of the diseases associated with the typhoon season are coughs and colds, dengue, and leptospirosis, among others.
Vergeire noted that the designation of some medical facilities to become COVID-19 referral hospitals is an essential move in this matter.
“That’s the very objective of having a referral hospital so that all of our COVID-19 patients would just go to these hospitals.
Effectively, other hospitals will be able to handle non-COVID-19 patients,” she said.
To note, the DoH recently reported that the country currently has 75 COVID-19 referral hospitals. (Analou de Vera)