MANILA (UCAN): East Avenue Medical Centre in Quezon City, Metro Manila, one of the Philippines’ major hospitals, released a statement on April 11 denying that it had insufficient body bags. Following social media reports that the hospital had been struggling to store unclaimed bodies of patients amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
A journalist, Arnold Clavio, posted on social media that bodies have been “piling up” in the hallway of a “certain hospital in Metro Manila.” While he did not disclose his source or the name of the hospital, he posted reports saying there were “not enough body bags” and bodies were being “left along the hallways,” exposing health workers to a high risk of being infected by Covid-19.
News also circulated online that the hospital had received orders from the health department to stop counting and reporting coronavirus-related deaths.
“We have cadaver bags available. At least 30 cadaver bags are available. And another 100 are coming in next week,” said East Avenue Medical Centre spokesperson Dennis Ordona.
The hospital denied that it had received an order from the Department of Health to stop counting and reporting Covid-related deaths. The health department also issued a statement denying it had made any such order to any health facility.
However, Ordona admitted that the number of bodies was starting to pile up because families were not claiming the bodies of their loved ones.
“In the past few days starting this week, the cadavers are piling up. There were 15 to 20 cadavers which have not yet been picked up. Honestly, there are bodies that have started to smell because the capacity of the morgue is only up to five bodies,” he said.
Ordona added that there was no confirmation if the dead patients had tested positive for Covid-19 because the results had yet to be released.
He said the hospital was looking for mobile freezers where they could store corpses to avoid a stench and the exposure of health workers to the virus.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Meanwhile, millions of Filipino Catholics took part in various livestreamed Easter liturgies and Masses in parishes and Catholic universities.
Father Jett Villarin, president of Ateneo de Manila University, said in his homily that he imagined what life would be after the Covid-19 quarantine.
“It will not be the same. We can rebuild our institutions and systems to be more responsive and agile. We need this especially for our health and our social welfare and educational systems. We can rebuild from the ruins. We can rebuild with one another. Let us take courage,” said the priest.
As of April 15, the Philippines had recorded 5,223 Covid-19 cases with 335 deaths. Worldwide, infections had topped 1.9 million while 475,973 people had recovered.
