Duterte orders AFP, PNP to deploy medics due to the rise of COVID-19 among health workers

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to deploy members of the medical corps due to the increase in COVID-19 cases among health workers.

In his second public address late Wednesday evening, Duterte said many health workers are once again getting sick with COVID-19, while hospitals are being "filled to the brim."

"I'm ordering the medical corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police... Please place your human resources on ready, on deck because talagang alam mo, 'yan talaga ang madali kong maasahan," he said.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he already ordered the deployment of some nurses in St. Luke's Medical Center earlier in the day.

"Patuloy pa silang mangangalap sa mga probinsya kung puwede pang magbigay ng nurses," he said.

"Sa mga darating na araw, magkakaroon pa ng nurses na puwedeng ipahiram," he added.

According to an Agence France-Presse article, nurses in the Philippines are struggling to care for patients as colleagues contract COVID-19 or quit a profession that was dangerously understaffed even before the pandemic.

The country is enduring a record rise in infections, fueled by the Delta variant, with the health department reporting a nursing shortfall of more than 100,000 -- forcing those left to work long hours for little pay on often precarious short-term contracts.

Meanwhile, health workers have protested over unpaid benefits, including special risk allowances. -- BAP, GMA News