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Duque: Health workers have recovered from stress of COVID-19


Health care workers in the country seemed to have gotten through the birth pangs of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on New Year's Eve.

"Tingin ko naman, ramdam ko, correct me if I'm wrong, mukhang maayos naman sila, mukhang they have recovered from the extreme stress that in the early stage of the pandemic they had to suffer," Duque said in a briefing.

Duque inspected New Year's Eve preparations of the Quirino Memorial Medical Center on Thursday.

The Health secretary said that it would best if the health workers themselves would answer the question.

One of the medical staff in QMMC agreed with Duque that their workforce has been overwhelmed during the first stages of the pandemic but has eventually got the hang of the new normal by adjusting their shifts, and implementing safety protocols both for them and the patients they care for.

As of December 20, more than 13,000 health workers in the Philippines had been infected with COVID-19, and the death toll  among the medical frontliners was at 76.

Nurses logged the highest number of COVID-19 cases within their ranks with 4,670 infections, followed by doctors with 2,197, nursing assistants with 992, medical technologists with 657, and midwives with 445 cases.

Over 500 other non-medical personnel such as utility workers, security guards, and administrative staff were also included in the tally.

Aside from the struggles with the physical and mental stress due to the novel disease, some frontliners in the country had also lamented the delays in the release of their COVID-19 hazard pay and special risk allowance.

The Philippines capped off the year with a total of 474,064 COVID-19 cases, of whom 25,024 are still undergoing treatment or quarantine. More than 9,000 fatalities were recorded nationwide.

According to the DOH, 63% of the country’s intensive care unit beds are available while 79 percent of the mechanical ventilators are ready for use.

The expected rise in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines due to increased interactions during this holiday season would be noticeable in the first two weeks of January, OCTA Research fellow Ranjit Rye earlier said.

He hopes the increase would be manageable. Otherwise, the health care system's capacity might get overwhelmed again. -NB, GMA News

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