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Pinoy nurses in US dread possible coronavirus 2nd wave —NYT report


Pinoy nurses in US dread possible coronavirus 2nd wave —NYT report

Filipino nurses working in the US have expressed concern about the possible second wave of the coronavirus, according to a report on Friday by the New York Times.

Still fresh on their minds are the Filipino health care workers who died due to COVID-19. Such deaths in New York City have reached at least 30, ProPublika said in a report published in May 2020. 

The NYT report also cited a study by the National Nurses United which found that around one-third of nurses who died of COVID-19 in the US were Filipinos.

The National Nurses United had a survey in September that revealed that the number of Filipino nurses who died due to COVID-19 has reached 67, NYT said.

Zenei Cortez, National Nurses United president, told NYT the numbers may be underreported.

Meanwhile, since the year started, more cases of COVID-19 have been reported in New York City. The infection rate has been going up, and so are hospitalizations.

This has alarmed Filipino nurses who fear hospitals will be overloaded with COVID-19 patients again like the situation in March to April 2020, NYT said.

According to Laarni Florencio, a member of the board of the Philippine Nurses Association of New York, many Filipinos worked last spring for weeks without sleeping at home.

Although hospitals are now more equipped than last year, and Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines were made available to health workers, Filipino nurses like Belinda Ellis told NYT they could not help but sense that the battle is “starting again.” —KG, GMA News

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