The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) slammed on Sunday the Department of Health (DOH) order to shorten the duration of isolation and quarantine of fully-vaccinated health workers, saying this would endanger the health of these workers and their patients.
Under a new circular, the period of quarantine and isolation for fully vaccinated health workers has been shortened as a way to deal with the shortage of hospital staff.
The AHW noted that the isolation period for vaccinated and unvaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 is 10 days, but health workers who are infected must undergo only five days of isolation.
Worse, the quarantine days of the general public in close contact with COVID-19 positive patients was shortened to seven days, while health workers who are at high risk and in contact with COVID-19 positive patients are no longer required to be quarantined.
AHW said shortening the duration of isolation for the health workers with positive cases—asymptomatic, mild, and moderate—will pose further danger to the health and safety of health workers as well as their patients.
The group also warned it will further accelerate the proliferation and spread of infections.
Furthermore, AHW said the policy drafted by the DOH and the IATF to create a distinction between the general public and health workers was illogical and unscientific because the virus infects everybody the same way.
In accordance with the DOH Circular, Philippine General Hospital (PGH) issued a memorandum ordering the fully vaccinated health workers who had high-risk exposure to COVID-19 and are asymptomatic to report back to work effective immediately.
Worst, they are not required to undergo COVID testing anymore because they are asymptomatic, AHW said.
The health workers noted the DOH cannot simply assume that symptoms will appear immediately.
“Health workers with high risk exposure to COVID-19 with or without symptoms should be quarantined and undergo an RT-PCR test. A free, regular and mandatory RT-PCR test should be provided to all health workers in every high-risk exposure to COVID-19,” the group said.
AHW President Robert Mendoza assailed the DOH circular as completely inhumane and unjust to health workers who are risking their lives in battling the infectious and deadly virus.
Mendoza said he is both saddened and angered by the shortened quarantine period for medical frontliners exposed to COVID-19.
Even if health workers are asymptomatic, they can still transmit the virus, Mendoza said.
Mendoza urged the Department of Health to resolve the problem of understaffing in hospitals and to give benefits to health workers who are unable to work after being sickened by the virus.
He said the DOH, IATF and the Duterte government are not really sincere in addressing the plight of the health workers.
They called us modern-day heroes but in reality, we are treated as modern-day slaves as they continuously exploited us,” Mendoza said.
“Reducing the days of isolation and quarantine of infected health workers will never solve the chronic and acute problem of understaffing of health workers who for the longest time are burned out, had meager wages and felt betrayed by the unjust treatment of this government by not releasing the COVID benefits of the health workers,” he said.
“Clearly, the health workers now are shouldering the burden brought about by the criminal neglect and failure of the DOH and this government. They are further putting the health and lives of the health workers at risk,” Mendoza said.
“We call on the DOH, IATF and Duterte government to implement mass hiring of regular health workers with living wage as a solution in sustaining our health care capacity so our public hospitals will not be overwhelmed. Definitely a shortened duration of isolation and quarantine protocol is not the solution,” he said.
The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) on Sunday also expressed frustration and dismay over the chaotic response of the government to the current
surge of infections.
In a statement, the FNU said the exponential increase of infectious cases with 46 percent positivity rate show the ineptness and lack of preparedness by the government to handle the current health crisis despite having been in this pandemic for two years now.
They said there are more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 infected health workers in San Lazaro hospital and Tondo Medical Center including doctors, nurses, and other health workers
The DOH has declared that 40 percent of PGH health workers are sick while Fabella Memorial hospital has closed its Outpatient Department.
In the first week of January 2022, Gat. Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center closed its ER while the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital has closed its Outpatient Department because around 60 health workers have been infected, they said.
“We decry the recent directive that shortened the quarantine period for health workers from 7- 14 days to 5-10 days. This is unsafe, unfair and irrational with health workers on the frontline most likely the ones to get infected given the dire situation of heavy patient load, extended work hours, increased patient admissions and the chronic understaffing of health personnel,” the FNU said in the statement.
“While we, nurses, continue to vow to fight this pandemic, we cannot agree with the policies that put the nurses and other health workers in a suicidal mission. We believe that this shortened quarantine is for vaccinated and asymptomatic, but COVID-infected health workers compromise our health and safety. Ultimately, this equally puts our patients and communities at greater risk and would further spread the
virus,” they said.