MANILA, Philippines — The Makati Medical Center (MMC) reported on Monday that it had sent home 29 patients who had recovered from the highly infectious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) — an accomplishment that has lifted the spirits of its personnel.

MMC medical director and interim co-CEO Saturnino Javier said the discharged patients were “all clinically improved, with several obtaining at least one negative COVID-19 result.”

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The Department of Health (DOH) considers patients to have recovered from the virus once they test negative twice.

“Without juxtaposing this against the [DOH] numbers, the number is still considerable— worthy of quiet applause to motivate our workforce,” Saturnino said.

According to MMC, the treatment used by the hospital included a broad spectrum of antibiotics for atypical pneumonia (caused by different bacteria compared to those commonly causing pneumonia).

If COVID-19 pneumonia is suspected, a cocktail of antiretroviral drugs are added, which include chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine (used for malaria, which is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium), lopinavir and ritonavir (used as treatments for HIV and AIDS), and oseltamivir (used as a treatment for influenza).

Another piece of good news, Javier said, was that none of their medical and nursing personnel in the emergency room had tested positive for the virus.

Two of its personnel who were previously intubated in the intensive care unit after contracting COVID-19 were in stable condition, with one of them already extubated.

Javier also mentioned Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, who incurred public ire after he went to the hospital to accompany his pregnant wife, despite being COVID-19 positive, saying his actions “galvanized even more public support for health care professionals in the Philippines.”

“The blunder on a politician’s part proved to be a much-needed spark that fired more convictions in support of health care professionals — including the epicenter of the fiasco, Makati Medical Center,” he said.

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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.

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