MANILA — Government-run San Lazaro Hospital has the most number of recovered COVID-19 patients, according to Department of Health (DOH) data analyzed by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the DOH reported 49 recovered COVID-19 patients out of the 2,084 people confirmed to have COVID-19.

HOSPITAL RECOVERIES

Of the recoveries, 8 patients (16% of total) - 5 women and 3 men - were confined at San Lazaro Hospital, which is the country’s Special National Hospital Medical Center for Infectious Diseases. Two of them are senior citizens and another two, including one of the elder patients, have pre-existing conditions.

In an earlier interview with ABS-CBN, the San Lazaro Hospital spokesperson pointed out that their health workers are used to dealing with infectious diseases. It also meant that their personnel are trained in dealing with outbreaks.

At the same time, many of the patients at San Lazaro Hospital were admitted early on in the pandemic, giving them enough time to recover. Based on available DOH data on 35 of the 49 recoveries, those who recovered were confined for an average of 13 days. In San Lazaro Hospital, the recoveries were confined at an average of 15 days.

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As of Wednesday morning, DOH’s COVID tracker lists San Lazaro Hospital as having had 21-COVID 19 patients under its care, making it the hospital with the 9th most COVID-19 patients. However, the DOH has yet to update the hospital information of the recently confirmed patients with many of their details “for validation.”

For this article, the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group used the daily case bulletins released by the DOH on recoveries and deaths.

The hospital with the second most number of recoveries is The Medical City in Ortigas. It has 7 (14%) of the total number of recoveries. Five of these are men and two are women.

“Among them are four senior citizens with no reported existing medical conditions,” the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group said.

Meanwhile, Makati Medical Center has the third most number of recoveries, based on DOH data — 6 patients (12% of total). This includes 5 men and one woman. One of the recovered patients is 75 years old with no reported pre-existing medical condition. The six patients were confined at the hospital for an average of 10 days.

SYMPTOMS AND CONFINEMENT

Based on available DOH data, it took an average of 6 days since symptoms appeared for the patients to be admitted to a health facility.

There were some who took more than a week before seeking medical attention but also others who were admitted on the same day.

“PH10, a 57-year-old man from Quezon City with travel history to Taiwan, reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on Feb. 20 but was only admitted on March 7 to San Lazaro Hospital or 16 days after the onset of symptoms—the longest among those who recovered. He was confirmed COVID-19 positive the next day after he was admitted,” the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group said.

Meanwhile, two patients — PH11 admitted to The Medical City - Ortigas and PH19 to San Lazaro Hospital — were admitted the same day they felt the symptoms. They were both confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 9, two days after they were admitted to the hospitals. During this time, there was hardly any backlog reported in the testing of suspected COVID-19 cases.

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Of the 49 recoveries, PH18 took the longest time in the hospital. The 41-year-old man who traveled to Taiwan with his wife, stayed at the San Lazaro Hospital for 23 days. His wife, PH19, was also confined at the same hospital for 19 days and had also recovered.

On the other hand, PH62, a 35-year-old woman from Rizal, experienced symptoms for 12 days before being admitted at the Ortigas Hospital and Health Care Center on March 13. She only stayed there for 2 days and was declared recovered.

SENIOR CITIZENS

While majority of fatalities are senior citizens, a number of them have also recovered.

Of the 49 recoveries, 15 (31%) are senior citizens or 60 years old and above. Four are in their early 60s, four are in their late 60s, and seven are in their 70s, the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group said. The eldest recovery is 77 years old.

Of the elderly recoveries, 6 are hypertensive. One of them also has diabetes.

The recovered senior citizens were confirmed at The Medical City - Ortigas (4 patients), San Lazaro Hospital (2), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (2), Cardinal Santos Medical Center (2), St. Luke's Medical Center-Global City (1), Makati Medical Center (1), St. Luke's Medical Center-Quezon City (1), Asian Hospital and Medical Center (1), and University of Sto. Tomas Hospital (1).

Of the 34 recoveries who are not senior citizens, 5 are in their 50s, 10 are in their 40s, 13 are in their 30s, 5 in their 20s and one is 13 years old.

“Five of the non-senior patients who recovered have asthma, hypertension, and bronchial asthma—one with both asthma and diabetes,” the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group said.

Of the 49 patients who recovered, 11 (22%) were reported to have existing medical conditions. Hypertension was the most common condition among those who recovered. A number of those who recovered were also reported to have asthma and diabetes.

While many COVID-19 patients are in private hospitals, this may soon shift as the DOH has already assigned referral hospitals for the disease. Among the referral hospitals are the Philippine General Hospital, Jose M. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan City and the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City. These referral hospitals will take in severe and critical cases, as well as patients with mild symptoms but are most at risk.