MANILA – Videos of patients waiting in the lobby and in tents outside the Tarlac Provincial Hospital that made the rounds online show the triage area, not the hospital's COVID-19 ward, the governor said Thursday.

"That’s our triage. The photos taken were not for COVID," Governor Susan Yap said.

"Since the pandemic of course some of the hospital services were limited to cater more to COVID patients. But I instructed the hospital that we should be addressing now more of other services and I think, when we did open that up, people flocked to the hospitals," she told ANC’s "Rundown."

Yap explained that patients outside the hospital were those waiting for the results of their RT-PCR tests.

"Before you get admitted to the hospital you have to be tested for RT-PCR…and for that day we had a surge because as you know, it’s not only COVID season, I mean, for the past months but also dengue’s on the rise due to the rains," she said.

Yap said the hospital has been using its lobby to cater to patients since the pandemic started.

"We converted the lobby when the pandemic came, so as not to have the patients come in right away to the ER (emergency room) section. We have to isolate of course anyone that comes in for treatment has to be triaged first. And we use the lobby because it’s more comfortable."

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv

Hospital chief Dr. Rex Quiambao said the hospital has 118 COVID-19 patients at present. They have 194 beds allotted for COVID-19 cases.

"Dumami po nitong weekend, pero manageable naman po yung aming pagtaas ng kaso ng COVID. Hindi pa naman po kami umabot sa full capacity," he said.

Quiambao said they plan to ask the Philippine National Police (PNP) for help to augment their nursing service should there be a further surge in cases.

Yap noted that three other district hospitals in Tarlac, which have 25 beds each for COVID-19 patients, are 30 percent full.

She also said that about 140,000 people in Tarlac have received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

--ANC, 19 August 2021

• COVID-19 patients die in parking lot while waiting for beds in Biñan hospital
• All areas in Metro Manila at high, critical risk for COVID-19: DOH