A 20-year-old mother endured a 12-hour ordeal looking for a hospital for her nine-month-old baby suspected of having COVID-19.
According to a report from the Daily Tribune the infant was rejected by at least 10 hospitals in Laguna.
Yanna Malicdem said her nephew suffered from fever, pneumonia, and infection in the blood on April 19 prompting her sister to seek medical attention.
Malicdem said her nephew was brought back and forth in a medical clinic in Sta. Rosa due to high white blood cell count which manifests infection. The doctor attending to the infant advised them to admit the baby to a hospital.
The baby was brought first at Biñan Doctors’ Hospital where the baby had his breathing, throat, and temperature checked.
“His blood test result was also taken and later revealed that he has an infection. Unfortunately, there was no pediatrician present in the hospital. They were told that they can’t accept the baby because there was no available room,” said Malicdem.
She then told Tribune that they transferred the infant to various hospitals only to be declined as there was no room available or no pediatrician was available.
Some hospitals even rejected the baby without checking his condition.
The baby was eventually transferred at a hospital in Sta. Rosa where the mother of the baby was yelled when asked why she brought her baby there.
“My sister told them she doesn’t know exactly. So the doctor shouted at her, saying, ‘Why don’t you know when you are the mother. You brought the baby here, putting us, the frontliners, at risk,” Malicdem said.
The baby was assessed for six hours in triage area where they found out that the infant has acquired pneumonia.
However, the hospital rejected him as they do not have a room available. The hospital management even asked them to sign a waiver that the medical facility would not be responsible for whatever happens to him as they cannot admit him without a room.
Malicdem said they declined the waiver and they were given a transfer form describing her nephew as COVID-19 suspect.
They then transfer the baby to four other hospitals which rejected them without checking the baby.
They eventually return to a hospital where swab samples of the bay were taken. But the hospital said they do not have a definite schedule when to deliver the sample to Research Institute for Tropical Medicine as the facility can only accept a limited number of samples.
The infant is currently undergoing home quarantine with his parents after he was discharged from the hospital after his fever eased.
“The baby’s still taking his antibiotics for pneumonia, and recovering at home,” Malicdem shared adding that they are still waiting for the result of the test.
READ MORE: Nurse with COVID-19 recalls his fear to return home due to stigma
