The 3rd to 5th floors of the Cadiz District Hospital in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, remain closed after glass windows were shattered during the Tuesday night earthquake that rocked the Visayas.
The windows must be repaired before patients can return.
The broken glass windows make the area unsafe for use, Dr. Girlie Pinongan, Provincial Health Officer, said on Thursday, October 2.
A total of 113 patients were initially evacuated to the ground floor for safety during the quake.
Pinongan added that about half of the hospital’s patients from the damaged floors have since been transferred to an adjacent building, which was previously utilized for COVID-19 patients.
The Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City sustained minor cracks but remains safe, she said.
She said no other provincial government-owned hospital in the province was damaged.
AFTERSHOCKS
Donato Sermeno, director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Negros Island Region, reported no significant damage to buildings in the NIR.
Sermeno also said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) expects aftershocks to last for a week.
So far, 2,600 aftershocks, ranging from magnitude 1 to 5, have been recorded, he said.*