MANILA - The National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong has been cleared of coronavirus cases, its medical director said Wednesday.

NCMH medical center chief Dr. Roland Cortez said that as of Wednesday noon, all of its 3,200 patients and 2,435 staff are free from COVID-19.

At least 86 NCMH employees and 41 patients earlier tested positive for the virus.

All infected employees recovered, but among the infected patients, 7 died while the rest survived.

The NCMH, which is a special research training center and hospital licensed by the Department of Health and accredited by PhilHealth, has an authorized bed capacity of 4,200 inpatients and serves an average of 56,000 outpatients per year.

According to Cortez, NCMH is the first DOH-accredited hospital with a combined population of more than 5,000 with no active COVID-19 cases.

"We at NCMH are very happy to announce that we no longer have any active COVID-19 cases. At the same time, we are still saddened that we lost several of our patients to the virus. We will keep following the necessary protocols to ensure that no more lives are lost or put at risk due to COVID-19," he said in a statement.

NCMH said that the fast-spreading coronavirus forced the facility to limit its patient admissions, "which was unfortunate" since the number of patients seeking mental help has increased in the Philippines.

• Filipinos seeking mental health counseling spiked during lockdown - support providers