FIGHTING COVID-19. The staff of the state-run Eastern Visayas Covid-19 Testing Center (EVRCTC) in Tacloban City. The national government on Wednesday (June 24, 2020) turned over 4,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 8,000 masks for health workers in Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of EVRCTC)
TACLOBAN CITY – The national government has turned over 4,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) and 8,000 masks for the health workers in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) tasked to combat the rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the region.
Concerned with the ballooning number of infected health workers, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and National Task Force Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the government will send 6,000 more PPEs in the next days.
“We will be crippled if our health workers get infected just like what happened in some hospitals in Metro Manila and Cebu,” Galvez told the members of the regional task force on Covid-19 during a meeting at the Palo town hall late Wednesday.
At least 80 health workers in the region have caught the virus, according to the Department of Health, including eight doctors, 18 nurses, five nursing attendants, two radiology technicians, and 12 other employees of hospitals and the Department of Health field office here.
Most of the infected health workers are assigned at the 500-bed Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban, the region’s largest state-run health facility and referral hospital.
Cases among EVRMC personnel prompted the Department of Health to reject accepting new patients for a few days last week to pave the way for disinfection and contact tracing.
Galvez also asked local government officials to help shield health workers from being infected and come up with policies stopping the discrimination against them.
As of Thursday, the region has 452 Covid-19 cases with 39 recoveries and zero death.
DOH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Minerva Molon said the significant spike can be attributed to the testing of returning residents stranded by lockdown in Metro Manila and Cebu City, overseas Filipino workers, and healthcare workers.
Molon warned that if the trend continues, there is a big possibility that the number of cases will double in two weeks. (PNA)
