On Sunday, May 16, Filipinos woke up to reports of fire breaking out at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila, one of the country’s critical battlefronts against the coronavirus disease.
PGH is a COVID-19 referral hospital. This means that its facilities are dedicated to treating coronavirus patients referred to them, apart from treating non-COVID patients.
The first alarm was raised at 12:41 am and was declared under control at 2:46 am. The fire was extinguished at 5:41 am, according to the Manila Fire District. No casualties were reported.
In a DZBB interview, PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the fire started at the Operating Room Sterilization Area on the third floor of PGH’s central block building, where paying patients of the state-run hospital were admitted. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Immediately, calls for donation started to pop up online to help the affected patients and healthcare workers.
The PGH opened its own official call, encouraging food, non-food, and cash donations.
The UP-PGH opened a call for donations to help patients and health workers affected by the fire that hit the Philippine General Hospital early Sunday morning, May 16. #PGHFire
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) May 16, 2021: Ron Baticulon
READ: https://t.co/1nIx2nLC10 pic.twitter.com/nXMtcA7pVh
: Ron BaticulonThe University of the Philippines Manila also shared other ways to donate cash to the hospital. Cash can be deposited into the following PGH Medical Foundation Inc. accounts.
Hours after the fire, the PGH moved 12 newborn babies and other pediatric patients to different hospitals. Del Rosario advised that the hospital will not be able to accommodate new patients on Sunday and possibly on Monday, May 17, until evacuated patients are able to return to their rooms.
Earlier in May – weeks after the strictest lockdown in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces–over 90% of PGH’s COVID-19 beds remained occupied. – Rappler.com