The Negros Polymedic Hospital in Sibulan, Negros Oriental is now accepting for admission persons who are either suspected or confirmed to be afflicted with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, the chair of the health committee of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in a virtual presser Tuesday afternoon, said the newest private hospital in the province has at least 12 Covid-19 patients.

“For Negros Polymedic, just this morning I was told by a doctor from there nga nagdawat na diay sila and as of the moment, I think naa silay 12 ka gi-isolate pero dili tanan positive (they are now receiving patients and I think they have 12 being isolated but not all are positive),” she said.

The Negros Polymedic Hospital was formally opened in early November.

Estacion has started reporting on hospital admissions of Covid cases, whether suspect, probable, or confirmed, to determine the bed capacity of these facilities as infections in Negros Oriental continue to rise.

As of Dec. 8, she said the hospital occupancy rate was: Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital, 60 percent; Silliman University Medical Center, 80 percent; and Holy Child Hospital, 100 percent. However, not all of the admissions are Covid-19 cases.

The provincial IATF has also prepared a 30-bed isolation facility in case the hospitals in this capital become overwhelmed with Covid cases, she added.

The individual bed capacities of each hospital allocated for Covid cases, however, were not made available yet. (PNA)