26 healthcare workers have succumbed to COVID-19; over 1k others infected —DOH

Twenty-six healthcare workers have died on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday.

Nineteen of these fatalities were doctors, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,062 healthcare workers have contracted the new coronavirus.

Of this number, 422 are doctors, 386 are nurses, 30 are medical technologists, 21 are radiologic technologists, 51 are nursing assistants, while 152 are considered “health frontliners” or barangay health workers and people who are part of the administrative workforce.

Vergeire also assured the public that DOH-issued guidelines on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are being observed by hospitals after the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the deaths of healthcare workers in the Philippines, possibly caused by the shortage of protective gear, are “worrisome.”

“Ito pong aming protocol at guidelines for PPEs ay base rin po sa aming consultations… with WHO at iba pa nating eksperto,” she said, adding that the department continues to procure PPEs for healthcare workers.

The Philippines has recorded 6,710 COVID-19 cases with 693 recoveries and 446 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. —LDF, GMA News