MANILA - Twelve Filipino doctors have died fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, an official of the Philippine Medical Association said Sunday.
"We still have some other patients confined and fighting the illness at this time. Hopefully, we don’t add more to the list of deaths among our practitioners, our physicians," Dr. Oscar Tinio, chair of the association's commission on legislation, told ANC.
"We’re still grieving but, at this point, we cannot do anything about what has lapsed already, what has been done already."
The country's latest death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak stood at 68, as of Saturday, out of the countrywide tally of 1,075 cases.
Tinio estimates that more than 5 percent of the country's health workers are also currently on quarantine due to the nature of their work in directly dealing with the disease.
To underscore the need of protecting all healthcare professionals in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tinio disclosed that the doctor-to-patient ratio currently stands at 1:40,000, far from the ideal 1:10,000.
The country also does not have enough nurses, as they would "rather work somewhere else," he added.
"In Metro Manila, we have an over-concentration of physicians. In other areas, we have relatively very few doctors in remote areas of Luzon and all over the country as well," Tinio said.
While he appreciates the effort of government to get volunteer health workers to augment the current active medical workforce, Tinio said "definitely, it's not fair" to offer them only P500 per day in allowance.
According to the Department of Health, 690 individuals have signified interest, as of Sunday noon, to become HealthCare Warriors.
Tinio, meanwhile, urged the DOH to augment the supply of medical equipment in public and private hospitals such as face masks and personal protective equipment (PPEs).
"We're willing to procure them, (but) they're not available. The government, probably they would have supplies available," he said.
Rustico Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, told DOH to "immediately release" PPEs to hospitals and do away with requests before giving supplies.
"We still have to request to them when to deliver and where to deliver the donated PPEs and others. It should be distributed immediately to save our frontliners. There should be no delay," he told ANC in a separate interview.
"Do not wait for more frontliners to die and to be quarantined."
Tinio, meantime, thanked those who have been giving support to health workers and frontline personnel.
"I would like to recognize and thank all those who have been active in providing for assistance and services to the medical professionals, all other healthcare providers as well, especially those people who have been giving us donations in the form of PPEs or food or anything to that effect," Tinio said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
They have been hailed as India's coronavirus "heroes", but doctors, nurses, delivery drivers and other frontline workers have been attacked and in some cases evicted from their homes by panicked residents.
Some e-commerce giants have even halted deliveries partly due to the harassment of staff, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi said abuse of hospital workers had become a "huge issue".
Reports of attacks and abuse have come from across India, increasing with the imposition this week of a 21-day nationwide lockdown. In at least one case, police were accused of beating a delivery driver carrying medicines.
Sanjibani Panigrahi, a doctor in the western city of Surat, described how she was accosted as she returned home from a long day at a hospital that is treating COVID-19 patients.
She said neighbors blocked her at the entrance to her apartment building and threatened "consequences" if she continued to work.
"These are the same people who have happily interacted with me (in the past). Whenever they've faced a problem, I've helped them out," the 36-year-old told AFP.
"There is a sense of fear among people. I do understand. But it's like I suddenly became an untouchable."
This week, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences appealed to the government for help after health workers were forced out of their homes by panicked landlords and housing societies.
"Many doctors are stranded on the roads with all their luggage, nowhere to go, across the country," the letter said.
Modi called on Indians to stop treating medical workers as pariahs, describing those fighting the virus were "god-like".
"Today they are the people who are saving us from dying, putting their lives in danger."
Fake news and paranoia
Health workers are not the only ones facing the brunt of the frightened population in an environment where misinformation and rumours are thriving.
Airline and airport staff, who are still being called on for evacuations of Indians stuck overseas and management of key cargo deliveries, have also been threatened.
Indigo and Air India have condemned threats made against their staff.
An Air India flight attendant told AFP her neighbors threatened to evict her from her apartment while she was heading to the United States, saying she would "infect everyone".
"I couldn't sleep that night," she said, afraid to reveal her name over fear of further stigmatisation.
"I was scared that even if I did go home, would someone break open the door or call people to kick me out?"
Her husband had to ask the police for help.
Others have not been as lucky, the flight attendant said, with one colleague -- who declined to speak to AFP -- forced out of her home and now living with her parents.
"With all the fake news and WhatsApp forwards, they don't know what is going on, so there's this paranoia that makes them behave like this," she said.
T. Praveen Keerthi, general secretary of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (IPCA), told AFP they had received more than 50 complaints from airline crew.
"Airline staffers are being stopped from entering their own residential premises by security guards," he said.
"We also have families and children that we leave at home to help fellow citizens... The least we expect is for our colleagues to not be harassed and ostracised."
Airport workers involved in moving essential supplies have also faced attacks as have delivery workers transporting medicines and groceries.
E-commerce giant Flipkart temporarily suspended services this week.
The Walmart-owned group said it only resumed home deliveries after police guaranteed "the safe and smooth passage of our supply chain and delivery executives".
source: news.abs-cbn.com
