The invisible struggle of non-COVID patients cnnphilippines.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnnphilippines.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Teodoro B. Padilla
In March 2020, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) was designated by the Department of Health (DoH) as one of the three coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) referral centers in Metro Manila. As a result, a substantial proportion of the hospital’s logistics and manpower was allocated to caring for COVID-19 patients.
The PGH Cancer Institute, among other non-emergency outpatient specialty services of the hospital, ceased operations for one week to ensure the safety of cancer patients who are mostly immunocompromised and therefore have a higher risk of getting infected with the novel coronavirus. (“Treatment of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines,”