MORE people are being released from hospitals for recovering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and are being paraded down hospital halls to the applause of doctors and nurses.
It warms the heart to see pictures and videos of patients being released to the applause of those who are lined up along hospital hallways and then at the residence of the Covid-19 survivor.
This was what Elizabeth Taghoy, 67, of Lapu-Lapu City, experienced when she was released from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) Friday, April 24, 2020, after 18 days of treatment. She is the first Covid-19 patient at the VSMMC to recover.
The VSMMC is the only facility accredited by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to conduct Covid-19 tests in the region.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr., VSMMC chief, saw Taghoy’s recovery as a sign that more recovered patients are bound to be released in the coming days and weeks. Aquino said Taghoy belonged to the high-risk group for infection because of her diabetes and hypertension but her recovery is proof that the disease can be treated.
The nationwide trend also shows that – an increase in the number of people getting cured. The Department of Health (DOH) said the number of patients who have recovered from the disease is steadily increasing, although the growth is lower than those of other countries.
Government also had said the growth in cases of novel coronavirus infections in the country may have slowed down, but this does not indicate a flattening of the epidemic curve yet. Quarantine measures should continue to reduce the risk of transmission and to care for those who are infected. President Rodrigo Duterte announced that the enhanced community quarantine for Luzon and 25 others areas, including Cebu City and Cebu province, is extended from the original end date of April 28 or 30 to May 15.
As of 4 p.m. last Friday, the total case count in the country is at 7,192. The number of deaths is placed at 477 while the number of patients who have recovered is at 762. That is more people who recovered than those who died.
Every release of a recovered patient is cause for celebration not only by the patient’s family and friends but also by the people who took care of him or her after a usually traumatic intensive care unit experience connected to a ventilator to force the person to breathe.
At the patient’s residence, loved ones hang “welcome home” banners for the Covid-19 survivor to see. The community celebrates with them.
In addition, survivors are asked to donate plasma, the liquid part of their blood, which may be used for the sick to help them defeat the virus. The recovered become heroes again for surviving the disease and then helping others to survive.
That applauding every time a recovered patient is released is also the frontliners applauding themselves for saving a life.