The number of doctors who have died in the battle against COVID-19 rose to nine Thursday following the death of the director of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), Dr. Sally Rodriguez-Gatchalian.
The death of Gatchalian, who was president of the Philippine Pediatric Society and a consultant at Manila Doctors Hospital, was confirmed by her younger sister, TV host Ruby Rodriguez.
Last week, Rodriguez said her sister was confined at a Manila hospital and was weak but stable.
But in her latest social media post, Rodriguez wrote a farewell message to Gatchalian.
“We will only remember you with happy memories, laughing and sleeping, your johnson outfits and all… Be at peace, do not worry about us anymore. Have fun in heaven! Love you so much!” she said.
The Philippine Medical Association said Thursday a ninth doctor had died of the virus, and that health workers were not getting enough protection.
READ: Another frontline doctor passes on, several colleagues under treatment
“If it were up to me, test the frontliners first and test them again after seven days. Doctors could be carriers themselves,” Benito Atienza, vice president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) said.
The announcement of the doctors’ deaths heightened fears that the scale of the health crisis in the Philippines is much worse than is being officially reported.
Three large Manila hospitals announced Wednesday they had reached full capacity and would no longer accept new coronavirus cases.
Hundreds of medical staff are no longer accepting patients because they are undergoing 14-day self-quarantines after suspected exposure, the hospitals said.
Just under 2,000 people had been tested in the Philippines as of Tuesday from those with severe symptoms and those considered most vulnerable to COVID-19, such as the elderly, those with life-threatening ailments, and pregnant women.
Dr. Dennis de Guzman, former assistant secretary general of the PMA, enumerated the names of the other doctors who fell in the line of duty.
De Guzman identified them as Dr. Israel Bactol, cardiologist at the Philippine Heart Center; Dr. Rose Pulido, oncologist at San Juan de Dios Hospital; Dr. Greg Macasaet III, anesthesiologist at Manila Doctors Hospital; Dr. Raul Jara, cardiologist at the Philippine Heart Center; Dr. Henry Fernandez of Pangasinan Medical Society; Dr. Marcelo Jaochico of Pampanga Provincial Health Center; Dr. Raquel Seva, OB-Gyne in Laguna and Dr. Hector Alvarez of Novaliches District Hospital.
De Guzman said they are saddened by their doctors dying after attending to COVID-19 patients.
“They died one after another, our fellow doctors who were frontliners in the fight against COVID-19,” he said in Filipino.
He warned more doctors will die because of the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in many hospitals, including “the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and nearby hospitals.”
“Even our big centers, government hospitals lack PPE, so we doctors are fighting without protection,” De Guzman said.
He said health workers are in dire need of N95 masks, hazmat suits, goggles, face masks and even surgical masks.
“ PPEs are indeed needed because those hazmat suits, those should not be washed… They should be thrown immediately [after] being contaminated,” he added.
Rustico Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, echoed the warnings of De Guzman.
He called on suppliers of PPE, masks, gadgets and other other protective equipment to protect doctors and other health workers in the war against “the faceless enemy.”
He also reiterated his call to patients of COVID-19 to tell the truth about their exposure and travel history. “Don’t be angry if our nurses and doctors ask you about these things, which are very important in treating you,” he said.
He said many doctors died because patients lied.
He added that it was sad that almost everyday, frontliners get infected, and many of them are intubated and hooked to ventilators.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said the Department of Health is investigating reports that a doctor died after a patient lied about his or her medical condition and history of travel or exposure to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Jimenez said board examinees are welcome to help in hospitals as long as they work under the supervision of licensed doctors.
At present, he said the Philippines still lacked about 23,000 nurses even before the COVID-19 outbreak. – With Nickie Wang, AFP
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