ILOILO City – Do not discriminate healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) appealed to the Ilonggos.
Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire lamented reports that healthcare workers of The Medical City in Molo district were being ostracized from their boardinghouses and barangays following the confirmation that Western Visayas’ second positive case of COVID-19 was confined in that hospital.
“Ang concern pong ito ay pinarating natin sa ating inter-agency task force para maimbestigahan at masolusyonan,” Vergeire said in a press conference in Metro Manila.
On Saturday, DOH Region 6 confirmed that a male patient of The Medical City tested positive for COVID-19 – the second in the region; the first positive case was in Bacolod City.
“Hindi po ito ang panahon para talikuran natin ang ating healthcare workers. Sila po ay nag-iingat para hindi makapanghawa ng iba. So sana po ‘wag po natin itong (discrimination) gawin sa ating mga healthcare workers,” said Vergeire.
As of this writing, there were already two COVID-19 positive cases at The Medical City in Iloilo City. The other one was a 61-year-old woman.
“Kung
saka-sakaling nagkakarooon tayo ng ganitong diskriminasyon sa ating healthcare workers, baka naman
po pwede nilang tulungan na magkaroon ng espasyo para magkaroon sila ng tuluyan
at sila ay makapagpahinga,” said Vergeire.
President Rodrigo Duterte, for his part, praised the doctors, particularly
those who succumbed to COVID-19 in the line of duty.
“I am saddened by the news that the virus has claimed the lives of our doctors
along the way. Lahat po sila ay bayani,” Duterte
said in a press conference late night on Tuesday.
A number of doctors have succumbed to COVID-19 after handling infected patients, including Dr. Raul Diaz Jara, an esteemed cardiologist and internist who served as president of the Philippine Heart Association.
Earlier passing away due to the virus were cardiologist Israel Bactol of the Philippine Heart Center, anesthesiologist Gregorio Macasaet III of Manila Doctors Hospital, and oncologist Rose Pulido of the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
In Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Treñas said, “I have been receiving information that our fellow Ilonggos in the medical profession are being discriminated. Buses reject them. Carinderias won’t sell food to them. Their landlords are evicting them. We should not allow this to happen.”
“Please keep in mind if our healthcare workers cannot eat, if they cannot go to work, if they cannot rest and sleep, who will take care of you if you get infected,” Treñas reminded the public.
The Medical City assured the public its healthcare workers and frontliners pose no health risk to the public.
“The management had already identified and quarantined healthcare workers who have come in contact with the said patient. Thus, these healthcare workers and frontliners no longer pose any danger to those who are coming in at TMC Iloilo and the general public as a whole,” it stressed in a statement.
Dr. Felix Ray Villa, chief executive officer of The Medical City in Iloilo City, said “Our quarantine protocols have already been in place even before this positive result. We have taken each possible precaution to make sure this is contained. There is no cause for panic as the proper protocols have been observed and followed.”
There are currently four COVID-19 positive cases in Western Visayas. Aside from the two at The Medical City in Iloilo City and the one in Bacolod City, the other was make from Capiz province./PN
