At Silliman Hospital people are being tested (as of a specific time I was there yesterday) for temperature when they enter the 'clinic section' but are NOT tested at all when entering the main hospital (this includes all the visitors to inpatients). This simply does not make sense.
One is significantly more crowded than the other and has people sitting around a waiting room for hours on end?
No, that is not relevant - if a person has Covid-19 and visits the payment area plus another section, hangs around for about an hour, and comes into contact face-to-face with staff (as my wife and I did) then the effect could have been disastrous if we were already infected. Has someone walked all over the hospital and was later found to be Covid-19 positive then the whole of SUMC may have had to be quarantined. I don't want to seem 'superior' but I am a graduate virologist and I am not just guessing on this subject.
The reality here is a lack of resources. Sure, in a rich first world country the decisions can lean towards a more generous use of resources. The trade-offs when making a decision here lean towards the conservation of resources. Over a month ago Papua New Guinea blocked all travel from Asian ports. Including land border crossings. They realize they do not have the resources to manage an outbreak. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news...rom-entering-png-by-coronavirus-measures.html So how many lung ventilators are already here in Dumaguete? Lung ventilation and supplemental oxygen is the treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). China was able to move resources to Wuhan. The medical resources to treat this can become overwhelmed here in the Philippines. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/07/how-doctors-treat-sickest-coronavirus-patients/ Corona Virus skews towards older men. Although the death rate is only around 3% of the overall patients who get infected, the risk of death for older men is much higher. Over 80 (15%). Men have a much higher death rate than women. (60% higher) https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51674743 So if the medical resources are overwhelmed to the point where patients cannot get oxygen and lung ventilators then the death rate for older men would be in the order of 30%.
This country is not broke and has the money to purchase these resources, the problem is corruption and these funds are all going into individuals pockets.
What I find really weird is in History Rat's and Bat's have given plenty of surprises to populations and no topics anywhere on the Net about a limited culling of them (at the least) IMHO. Anyways, I naturally have gotten all I need for self quarantine.
We just have to hope that the number of cases remain low enough to allow treatment for symptomatic people - this is why some countries are trying to flatten the curve of infections. Other than that - just sPRAY and PRAY.
