A female Filipino nurse working in a care home in Surrey, England, received an award from Queen Elizabeth for her courageous work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charito Leonardo-Romano, a staff nurse in Esher town, was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM). The award is given to community volunteers for their "meritorious" actions, the BBC said.
Leonardo-Romano said she was "overwhelmed and thankful" for the award.
"I think one of the meritorious things we have done in our home is,
would you believe, up to now, we have zero COVID. None of our (42) residents have contracted COVID," she told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo on Sunday.
“If you can remember, there was a shortage of PPE in England. It was so heartbreaking at the time that you are dealing with infection, you don’t have anything to use to protect you. We rallied, it was a team effort. All throughout the pandemic, none of our residents contracted COVID," she said.
Leonardo-Romano, who arrived in England in 2002, said she contracted COVID-19 in September but tested negative after two days, and went back to work after 14 days of quarantine.
She said she was inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 on Dec. 20, and is due for a second dose on Jan. 10.
Two other Filipino health care workers were awarded by the Queen, Leonardo-Romano said.
“We're really lucky because England embraces the Filipino culture. They trust us and they care for us in their country,” she said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Roman made all Filipinos proud.
“Our congratulations may not be enough to express how our government is grateful to her for making our people very proud,” Bello said.
“Nurse Romano’s outstanding performance exemplifies the Filipino virtues at work even under the worst conditions and personal risks.
What a very inspiring story for our overseas workers to start the new year.”
Romano works as a staff nurse at the Arbrook House Care Home in Esher, England since 2018. During the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020, she said their manager of the nursing home trusted her to make immediate decisions to assist their patients and protect their residents and keep them safe from the virus.
She and her fellow health care workers worked together tirelessly to make sure that no one in the care home would be infected. All their efforts paid off.
Romano is originally from Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. She studied nursing at the Wesleyan University Philippines and worked at the Philippine Population Office in their province.