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Hospital admissions increase in St. Luke's Medical Center, EAMC due to COVID-19

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ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1882394" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>MANILA - The number of COVID-19 patients confined at St. Luke&#x27;s Medical Center and at the East Avenue Medical Center has increased starting at the turn of the year, officials of the two hospitals said Monday.Dr. Arturo De La Peña, president and CEO of St. Luke&#x27;s Medical Center, described the recent spike in coronavirus hospital admissions as a bit concerning, adding that new infections were also recorded among health workers.St. Luke&#x27;s Global City in Taguig currently has 43 admitted COVID-19 patients, while its facility in Quezon City has 32, up from less than 10 confined in both before New Year&#x27;s Eve, said De La Peña. Each has four pediatric patients.About 40 percent of those confined at the private medical facility are unvaccinated against COVID-19, another 40 percent are fully vaccinated, and some 10 percent already received their booster shots, added De La Peña.EAMC, located in Quezon City, also saw a 32.62 percent increase in admitted COVID-19 patients during the most recent week, from 117 to 151, according to Lorena Tuico Perdigon, Health Education and Promotion Officer of the government hospital.As regards health workers, 23 are currently infected from St. Luke&#x27;s Global City, 28 from St. Luke&#x27;s Quezon City, and five from EAMC, De La Peña and Perdigon said in an interview on ABS-CBN&#x27;s TeleRadyo.&quot;We are preparing our facilities, kasi limited lang ang (because we only have a limited) number of patients to be admitted. Also, ang aming health workers ay nagkakasakit (our health workers are getting sick),&quot; said De La Peña.He noted though that majority of those confined at St. Luke&#x27;s have moderate and mild symptoms but have other underlying medical problems, while only one or two are critical and staying in the ICU.At the EAMC, six of the confined are confirmed COVID-19 cases, of whom three are moderate and the three others are severe. The rest are considered suspect cases (132) and probable cases (23).Perdigon said only 54 percent of the EAMC&#x27;s hospital beds allotted for COVID-19 are currently occupied.The emergency rooms of St. Luke&#x27;s have also seen an increase in people consulting for possible COVID infections, said De La Peña.Attributing the spike in new cases to the people&#x27;s laxity in following health protocols, De La Peña urged the public to change their behavior and strictly adhere to the set guidelines, whether or not they have symptoms.While there is no confirmation yet of the local transmission of the omicron variant, he said it appears such is already the case based on the observed &quot;behavior and pattern&quot; now.Other hospitals in Metro Manila have also reported a spike in admitted COVID-19 patients amid the threat of the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/01/22/pgh-seeing-steady-increase-in-covid-patient-numbers">PGH seeing ‘steady increase’ in COVID-19 patient numbers</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/02/22/2-manila-hospitals-limit-patient-admissions-due-to-rising-covid-cases">2 Manila hospitals limit patient admissions due to spike in COVID cases</a></li></ul>The country&#x27;s total case count climbed to 2,855,819, of which 24,992 or 0.9 percent are active infections, according to the latest case bulletin of the Department of Health.The DOH said 331 of the active cases are critical, while 1,563 are severe.The intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization rate in Metro Manila and across the country was at 29 percent and 23 percent, respectively. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/03/22/ph-logs-4084-new-covid-19-cases-207pct-positivity-rate">Philippines logs 4,084 new COVID-19 cases, 20.7pct positivity rate</a></li></ul>Local transmission of the omicron variant in the Philippines is &quot;assumed,&quot; the DOH said Monday, as it announced that the country is now classified as &quot;high-risk&quot; for COVID-19.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/03/22/ph-now-high-risk-for-covid-omicron-local-transmission-assumed-doh">PH now high-risk for COVID, omicron local transmission &#x27;assumed&#x27;: DOH</a></li></ul><div> </div>

The number of COVID-19 patients confined at the two hospitals of the St. Luke's Medical Center and at the East Avenue Medical Center has increased starting at the turn of the year, officials of the two facilities said Monday.