By Marjaleen Ramos

The Makati Medical Center (MMC) on Tuesday said 25 to 30 percent of its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have already recovered.

MMC medical director Dr. Saturnino Javier said that the hospital had already sent home 29 out of a total 103 COVID-19 patients after they recovered and tested negative for the disease.

“Hindi po ito seal of death. Hindi naman ibig sabihin ‘pag nagkaroon ka ng COVID eh iyon na ang final death sentence,” Javier said in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo.

He noted that majority of those who recovered from the disease are between 40 and 60 years old.

“Base po sa ating clinical recovery those 29 COVID- positive have really improved and we discharged them,” he said.

“‘Yun ho ang medyo nakaka-encourage. Ginamit ko po iyon na parang motivational persuasion sa aming mga staff,” he added.

The MMC, however, said it is still treating 35 patients who tested positive for the disease and 50 other patients are under investigation for showing symptoms of the disease.

“[Let’s] say around 15 percent of our COVID-positive nasa ICU,” he said.

Patients who have recovered and tested negative for the disease were being sent home but with very strict precautions like wearing masks for 14 days, he added.

“We treat them as not completely free of the disease or the virus kaya pag-iingat pa rin po ang kailangan,” said Javier, adding that the patient should still observe quarantine protocols, social distancing and proper hygiene.

He pointed out that they cannot wait for two tests to yield negative results, as they won’t be able to admit new patients. “Because of the volume of tests na kailangan nating gawin hindi po namin ma validate lahat yan with two tests,” the doctor stressed.

“Mapupuno po tayo nang mapupuno at hindi po kami makakapag-service ng mga mas nangangailangan,” he added.

Meanwhile, he assured no MMC workers have died due to COVID-19, unlike in some hospitals where doctors were infected by their patients.

As of Tuesday, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 1,546. Of those infected, 78 deaths and 42 recoveries were recorded.