spot_img
28.4 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

One in every 5 infection cases a health worker

- Advertisement -

About 20 percent of the people infected with COVID-19 are health workers, most of them, doctors, the Department of Health said Friday, as the number of cases rose to 8,772.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said there were 284 new cases and 11 new deaths Friday, bringing total fatalities to 579. The department also reported 41 new recoveries, bringing the total number of patients who survived COVID-19 to 1,084.

READ: COVID-19 Tracker: Philippines as of May 1

The number of health care workers who tested positive for COVID-19 climbed to 1,694, or 19.3 percent of the total cases.

Based on the latest DOH tally, 33 health care workers died from COVID-19 and 256 of them got well. Of the 33 deaths, 24 were doctors and seven were nurses, Vergeire said.

- Advertisement -

As of April 30, 65 health workers at the National Center for Mental Health contracted the virus, three of whom recovered.

At the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, 45 were infected and 38 have recovered. Seven are still under quarantine.

The National Kidney Institute had nine positive cases for its health workers, one of whom has recovered.

Vergeire said there are other confirmed cases for COVID-19 in other hospitals, but the Lung Center of the Philippines has not reported any infections from its staff.

Those who have been infected include nursing assistants, medical technologists, radiologic technologists, midwives, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, and such other health personnel such as barangay health workers, administrative aids or utility workers.

If this trend will continue, Vergeire warned, there will be a scarcity or doctors and other health workers who will take care of COVID-19 patients.

To prevent infection, she urged hospitals to check their inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE).

She also urged health workers to follow the guidelines on infection control and prevention measures provided by the World Health Organization and health experts.

“We in the Health department believe that we will continue to reduce the number of health care workers who acquire the COVID-19 if we are more careful and compliant with protocols,” she said.

A WHO official had earlier raised concern over the relatively high percentage of health workers who contracted the virus in the Philippines, citing that the regional average is only within the 2 percent to 3 percent range.

Meanwhile, Senator Nancy Binay said a battalion of trained contact tracers would be the key to curbing the spread of COVID-19.

The pandemic, she said, has exposed the government’s handicap in managing public health, particularly in the area of contact tracing.

She said the first step once the Enhanced Community Quarantine is lifted is to see to it that local government units are ready and well-equipped when it comes to tracking possible carriers who have been exposed to infected people.

READ: Manila to help sick, kin of fallen healthworkers

“It is best that we come prepared and start training an army of contact tracers as we transition from ECQ to GCQ (General Community Quarantine),” the senator said.

She added that contact tracing is an essential public health safety tool to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

“Contact tracing is a labor-intensive mission. So we need to train practically a battalion of trackers deployed in small functional teams or units,” she said.

At present, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has tasked the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to do contact tracing.

Their lack of public health background, however, has presented some difficulties.

Senator Imee Marcos, meanwhile, said quarantine restrictions should focus, not on senior citizens but on younger age groups, which account for the most number of infections.

Marcos cited statistics from the DOH published online by the University of the Philippines which show that the top four age groups with the most cases of infection comprise those 21 to 30, 31 to 40, 51 to 60, and 41 to 50 years old, respectively.

Senior citizens aged 61 to 70 and 71 to 80 only ranked fifth and sixth, while those aged 81 and above had the fewest cases of infection.

Health experts worldwide have said that seniors are among the most vulnerable to viral infection due to underlying medical conditions that come with age, but the Philippine situation has shown a unique picture, Marcos said.

Public criticism of its plan to keep senior citizens homebound has forced the government to clarify that they can actually leave home to buy food and medicine if no one else can do it for them.

Seniors can also go back to work if their offices are listed among those allowed to resume operations where community quarantines will be in effect until May 15.

READ: Kin of health workers killed by virus get aid

At the same time, Marcos urged the DOH to be transparent about the COVID-19 test kits that it receives as donations.

She said while news stories about the donations have appeared, the test kits have not reached the provinces.

On Thursday, the Philippine Red Cross started testing for coronavirus disease among overseas Filipino workers who just arrived in the country, at its newly inaugurated molecular laboratory inside PRC’s Logistics Center in Mandaluyong City.

On Thursday night, around 120 seafarers who returned April 29 arrived at the testing center to undergo swabbing. They were accompanied by Philippine Coast Guard personnel.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles