EDITORIAL - Hospitals overwhelmed, again
Some hospitals are now converting even administrative offices and conference rooms into COVID wards, according to the Department of Health......»»
EDITORIAL - Delayed benefits
With COVID infections attributed to the spread of the Delta variant still rising across the country, hospitals are not only seeing their critical care facilities becoming overwhelmed but are also feeling the acute lack of trained healthcare workers......»»
EDITORIAL - Danger zone
Malacañang stressed yesterday that the critical health care capacity of the country remains “manageable,” as it sought to allay public fears that hospitals are becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases......»»
What we know about India’s worst rail tragedy in decades
India's deadliest train disaster in decades killed at least 275 people and injured hundreds more, a tragedy officials have said was linked to an electronic signal system. While a final report has not been released into Friday night's crash near Balasore in the eastern state of Odisha, local media quoting preliminary investigations have pointed to human error connected to the signaling system. Trains resumed operations on tracks past the crash site on Monday. Here is what we know so far: What happened? The Coromandal Express, a passenger train travelling from Kolkata to Chennai, was diverted onto a loop line on Friday evening and slammed into a stationary goods train loaded with tons of iron ore. The collision flipped the carriages of the Coromandal Express onto another track. The derailed compartments then struck the rear carriages of another fast train, the Howrah Superfast Express from India's tech hub Bengaluru, which was passing in the opposite direction. The two fast trains were carrying more than 2,000 passengers. Trains in India are usually packed at this time of year, with many people travelling during school holidays. What went wrong? Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's railway minister, has suggested the crash happened due to the "change that occurred during electronic interlocking". That refers to a complex signal system designed to stop trains colliding by arranging their movement on the tracks. "We have identified the cause of the accident and the people responsible for it," Vaishnaw said, but added it was "not appropriate" to give details before a final investigation report was completed. Local media have quoted a preliminary investigation report, with the Times of India saying a "human error in signaling may have caused the collision between three trains". India's Railway Board has recommended a high-level probe into the disaster by the federal investigating agency. How many died? The death toll has been revised several times since the crash. Officials had initially reported it stood at 288 but the Odisha state government has since revised the toll downwards to 275 after some bodies were mistakenly counted twice. Of the 1,175 injured, 382 were still being treated in hospitals, authorities said Sunday. However, many fear the death toll could still rise because medical centres are overwhelmed by the number of casualties. It is the worst crash since 1999, when 285 were killed when two passenger trains collided at Gaisal in West Bengal, an accident blamed on human error. India's worst crash was in 1981, when an overcrowded passenger train plunged into a river during a cyclone in Bihar state, killing about 800 people. India's safety record India has launched a $30 billion railway infrastructure modernization in a bid to boost the economy and connectivity, and Vaishnaw said last month tracks were being "upgraded very rapidly". In 2022, India built 5,200 kilometers (3,230 miles) of new tracks, and upgraded or replaced about another 7,500-8,000 kilometres, Vaishnaw said. But analysts say that while accidents have reduced over time, India's antiquated rail system still has a long way to go. An average of 20,000 people died each year between 2017 and 2021 in rail accidents -- collisions, derailments and other causes -- according to official records. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the country's top audit authority, said derailment was the reason for 69 percent of the accidents. Defective tracks, poor maintenance and old signaling kit combined with human error were the main cause, it said. Indian Railways, the world's fourth-largest rail network, runs some 14,000 trains daily with 8,000 locomotives over a vast system of tracks some 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) long. The trains carry more than 21 million people each day. The post What we know about India’s worst rail tragedy in decades appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pinoys among those evacuated as Sudan fighting enters 2nd week
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces said Sunday it had "coordinated with" American troops to evacuate Washington's embassy in the country, where fighting between the paramilitary group and the army entered a second week following a brief lull. More than 150 people from various nations had already reached the safety of Saudi Arabia in the first announced evacuation of civilians. Foreign countries have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, even though Sudan's main airport remains closed. "The Rapid Support Forces Command has coordinated with the U.S Forces Mission consisting of 6 aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning," said a tweet by the heavily armed paramilitary group. The RSF pledged "full cooperation with all diplomatic missions, and providing all necessary means of protection, and ensuring their safe return to their countries". The group previously said it was ready to "partially" open "all airports" in Sudan to evacuate foreign citizens. It was not possible to verify which airports the RSF controls. Fighting has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded, while survivors cope with shortages of electricity and food. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced the "safe arrival" of 91 of its citizens along with nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso. As the kingdom's naval forces transported the civilians, including diplomats and international officials, across the Red Sea from Port Sudan to Jeddah, fighting resumed in Sudan's capital Khartoum after a temporary truce saw gunfire momentarily die down on Friday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is normally a major celebration for Sudanese marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. This year it is marked by fear, grief and hunger. Earlier on Saturday, Sudan's army said its chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had received calls from leaders of multiple countries to "facilitate and guarantee safety for evacuating citizens and diplomatic missions". It noted that the evacuations were expected to begin "in the coming hours", adding that the US, Britain, France and China were planning to airlift their nationals out of Khartoum using military planes. Burhan told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that the army was in control of "all airports, except for Khartoum airport" and one in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. Urban warfare began on 15 April between forces loyal to Burhan and those of his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Daglo commands the RSF, which emerged from the Janjaweed fighters unleashed in Darfur by former strongman Omar al-Bashir, drawing accusations of war crimes. The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle. On Saturday morning, heavy gunfire, loud explosions and fighter jets were heard in many parts of the capital, according to witnesses. The army announced Friday agreement to a three-day ceasefire. Daglo said in a statement he had "discussed the current crisis" with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and was "focused on the humanitarian truce, safe passages, and protecting humanitarian workers". Five humanitarians, including four from UN-linked agencies, have so far been killed. Two 24-hour ceasefires announced earlier in the week were also ignored. In Khartoum, a city of five million people, the conflict has left terrified civilians sheltering inside their homes. Many have ventured out only to get urgent food supplies -- stocks of which are dwindling -- or to flee the city. While Khartoum has seen some of the fiercest battles, they have occurred across the country. Late Friday, the army accused the RSF of attacks in the capital's twin city of Omdurman where they released "a large number of inmates" from a prison, accusations the group denies. Battles have raged in Darfur, where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the city of El Fasher said their medics had been "overwhelmed" by the number of patients with gunshot wounds, many of them children. More plans are being made to evacuate foreigners, with South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries, and the European Union weighing a similar move. The German ministers of defence and foreign affairs held a crisis meeting Saturday on a possible evacuation, after three military transport planes had to turn back Wednesday, according to German weekly Der Spiegel. The World Health Organization (WHO) said 413 people had been killed and 3,551 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death toll is thought to be higher. More than two-thirds of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states are now "out of service", and at least four hospitals in North Kordofan state were shelled, the doctors' union said. The World Food Programme said the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where one-third of the population needs aid. Burhan and Daglo's dispute centred on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army, a key condition for a deal aimed at restoring Sudan's democratic transition after the military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests. In October 2021, Burhan and Daglo joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir's downfall. Daglo now says the coup was a "mistake", while Burhan believes it was "necessary" to include more groups into politics. The post Pinoys among those evacuated as Sudan fighting enters 2nd week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Lebanon fuel tank explosion kills 28, overwhelms hospitals
A fuel tank blast in Lebanon Sunday killed 28 people and left nearly 80 others injured, authorities and medics said, scalding a crowd that was clamouring for gasoline in the crisis-hit country. The night-time tragedy in the country’s remote north overwhelmed medical facilities and heaped new misery on a nation already beset by an economic […] The post Lebanon fuel tank explosion kills 28, overwhelms hospitals appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Palace: Quarantine downgrade to be based on total health
It is too early to decide on proposals to relax the restrictions in Metro Manila, Malacañang said yesterday, as it vowed to increase the available intensive care unit beds to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID patients......»»
Cebu City hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients
CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — Andres (not his real name) had a severe headache on Friday. The 55-year-old businessman was rushed to the privately owned Cebu South Medical Center in Talisay City in southern Cebu but there were at least 30 patients ahead of him—all waiting to be accommodated in its emergency room. His family […] The post Cebu City hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
Cebu City to make more COVID-19 beds available to address full hospitals
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is planning to open more beds for isolation and treatment centers as experts advised the city that the health care system has become overwhelmed. Acting Mayor Michael Rama said the city needs more beds for isolation and treatment of mild to moderate symptomatic patients of COVID-19. First and foremost, […] The post Cebu City to make more COVID-19 beds available to address full hospitals appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
After being overwhelmed by COVID-19 surge, hospital referral center hires more staff
The One Hospital Command Center which refers COVID-19 patients to hospitals has hired more staff to assist in its operations, the government’s treatment czar said Wednesday......»»
106th Malasakit Center launched in Iloilo
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go virtually attended the launch of the country’s 106th Malasakit Center at the Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo on Tuesday. In his speech as a special guest, Go admitted that the country’s hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of patients seeking medical attention amid the […] The post 106th Malasakit Center launched in Iloilo appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
[STANDPOINT] Duterte Administration: Solve the Life-threatening Situation of Hospital Workers
As hospitals are overwhelmed, so are frontline health workers who take care of patients. SHAPE-UP Defeat Covid-19 urges the Duterte administration to immediately solve the life-threatening situation of hospital workers and appeals to hospital directors to report the real situation and be one with the hospital workers......»»
Week-long ECQ may not be enough to decongest hospitals — PHAPi
The head of a private hospitals' group on Saturday said a week-long enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and other areas may not be enough to decongest hospitals whose capacities have been overwhelmed by the spike in COVID-19 infections......»»
Several NCR hospitals overwhelmed anew
Several NCR hospitals overwhelmed anew.....»»
More asymptomatic patients in hospitals prompt DOH-7’s call for more ‘hotel-isolation’ rooms
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) is pushing for more hotels here to house asymptomatic patients if it means preventing the hospitals from being overwhelmed by patients. DOH-7 on Monday, February 22, announced they registered a slight increase in the critical care utilization rate of public and private […] The post More asymptomatic patients in hospitals prompt DOH-7’s call for more ‘hotel-isolation’ rooms appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
DOH-7 says Cebu City hospitals still far from being overwhelmed
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Hospitals here are nowhere near being overwhelmed, as far as the regional health office is concerned. The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) disagreed with projections from the OCTA Research Group that in the next two weeks, infirmaries will be filled with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients up to 70 percent. “Our […] The post DOH-7 says Cebu City hospitals still far from being overwhelmed appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
Tokyo hospitals overwhelmed as virus cases hit new record
Tokyo’s hospitals are struggling to provide routine care because of a sharp spike in coronavirus cases, officials warned Thursday as new infections in the Japanese capital hit another record high. The city raised its alert level for availability of medical services to the top of a four-tier Covid-19 warning system for the first time since […] The post Tokyo hospitals overwhelmed as virus cases hit new record appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
As US battles Covid-19, flu shot misinfo spreads
US health officials are pushing Americans to get vaccinated against the flu to help prevent hospitals already busy battling Covid-19 from being overwhelmed this winter, but false claims are threatening their efforts......»»
With no hospital admitting him, Bacolod City councilor’s staff member dies from cardiac arrest
BACOLOD CITY –– A technical staff member of a councilor here died of cardiac arrest in his house on Sunday as hospitals in Bacolod City remained overwhelmed by the rising number of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. Jesryl Bancaya, 33, who was in-charge of orienting returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), had a fever for nine […] The post With no hospital admitting him, Bacolod City councilor’s staff member dies from cardiac arrest appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
Post-blast Lebanon says hospitals nearly at COVID-19 capacity
Lebanon's health minister warned Monday that hospitals are reaching maximum capacity to treat novel coronavirus patients after the deadly Beirut blast overwhelmed clinics and triggered a spike in COVID-19 cases......»»
Metro Manila hospitals overwhelmed in 2 weeks?
Metro Manila hospitals overwhelmed in 2 weeks?.....»»