The Labuan Public Hospital (LGH), recently imposed stricter monitoring and preventive measures, in response to the looming threat that is the COVID-19 outbreak.

The LGH is not a designated COVID referral hospital. At present, LGH has already detected four cases of Patients under monitoring (PUM)s. All the cases are sent home and referred to their respective barangay Health workers, for further monitoring. Patients under investigation (PUI)s are referred to the PUI center, where they are admitted, and tested for confirmation. so far, the LGH has no PUI cases.

The LGH personnel were also trained with covid-19 preventive practices, such as Monitoring, site disinfection, PPE use, (gowning, donning, doping and discarding of PPE’s), and even transport procedures, all in preparation for possible management of covid-19 patients.

Despite this preparations, the hospital is still in need for more PPE’s. Hospital Employees are in constant exposure to patients, who and is therefore, in need of more protection, as PPE’s are made for single use only, PPE supplies dwindle by the day. This, in spite of generous donations from the community.

Hospital workers, in response to the lack of available PPE’s in the hospital, brought it upon themselves to supply their own protective gears. one worker laments the sudden increase in disposable mask prices, but bought some anyways, for the meager protection it can give. Some even resorted to create makeshift PPE’s. this state, while ingenious, is also alarming, as most of the PPE’s the hospital workers use, are admittedly not to par to the requirements that could protect them against the virus.

The COVID -19 has already breached Philippine shores. In response to the ongoing threats of this uncontrollable virus, emergency quarantine and lockdown measures set up by the government. Now more than ever, essential personnel are working twice as hard, not only to respond to the needs of the community on lockdown, but also to protect themselves from the virus.