KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 20 July) – The Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City has temporarily stopped accepting critically-ill patients and referrals to its intensive care unit (ICU) effective Sunday, July 19, after a patient from North Cotabato province tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In a statement, the CRMC management said that their ICU will be disinfected.
However, the hospital will still accept emergency cases, subject to the assessment of a physician, it added.
The announcement came after a patient from Antipas town in North Cotabato tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the North Cotabato Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19, the female patient was referred to the CRMC on July 17 after she complained of difficulty in breathing.
The 60-year-old patient was first admitted at the Arakan Valley District Hospital in Antipas due to a cardiovascular problem on July 3.
Two weeks later, she was transferred to the CRMC for further medical intervention, the IATF report said.
A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction testing was conducted on her at the CRMC, and the result was positive for COVID-19, it added.
Dr. Philbert Malaluan, IATF Incident Command Post commander, said that a contact tracing has been launched with the persons that came close to the patient, including the hospital staff.
Several members of her family have been already placed under quarantine at an isolation facility in Antipas, the doctor said.