Palompon hospital flooded with patients

Doctors at the Palompon General Hospital say the facility is being inundated with patients following Super Typhoon Haiyan. The hospital's second floor was badly damaged by the storm and as a result, patients are being treated in the corridors while children undergo surgery on office desks. General practitioner at the hospital Napoleon Talines says the situation is dire. “The hygiene, I think, is at 50 percent. I can't say that it's not hygienic. But I can make an assurance that it's 50 percent sterile. It depends on what availabilities we have.” ANOTHER DEATH IN PALOMPON Another person died at the hospital this morning, bringing the death toll from Super Typhoon Haiyan in the town to eight. A 53–year–old man had been suffering from a fever that worsened because he'd been sleeping on the streets after his home was destroyed. More than 4,000 people have already been killed by the typhoon and an estimated 4 million homes were destroyed in the Asian country. Hospital staff are still searching for the man's family members as he arrived alone, but it is unclear at this stage if they are still alive. The man was one of thousands of people suffering respiratory infections in Palompon.

Doctors say they treat up to 300 patients per day, but the hospital can only accommodate 30 and they are therefore forced to send many people home. R234 MILLION IN LOST CROPS As Palompon residents continue with clean–up operations, local government officials are preparing to start farming different vegetables and plants because their rice and coconut plantations have been destroyed. An estimated R234 million has been lost in crops in Palompon alone and in the rest of the country the figure is more than R1 billion. The ward councillor of Palompon's farming region Irving Arevalo says short–term crops will generate some form of income for the destitute. “A lot of people here mainly plant coconut trees so for the next five years, we will be planting short–term crops while waiting for the coconut to bear fruit.”